


Blood Diamond

by Gelbanband



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Drama, Gen, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:40:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 29,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23517076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gelbanband/pseuds/Gelbanband
Summary: Everything seems to be over. But the echoes of the past are getting louder, and now, he will have to fix those mistakes, while the world is falling apart again.
Kudos: 4





	1. A nightmare

It's all over. Since he "finished" what his mother had started, everything has been peaceful. Tranquility was in the air and hopes for the future were palpable. And now, everyone is master of their own destinies, a dream come true.

The morning was beautiful, the wind was blowing gently through her window opening and the sun was breaking through, filling the room with a bright orange. The sound of the alarm clock pierced the silence, making its presence felt with its chirping song, which woke a sleepy Steven. It took him a while to get out of bed, but in the end he made it. With one foot out of the bed...and the other, he took his clothes and went to the bathroom.

While he was inside, he left his things on the toilet seat, while hanging the towel on the curtain post, with no slope to solve, he opened the water tap, letting the water flow freely. He began to get out of his pajamas and then went inside, and was welcomed with the warm sensation of the liquid running through his being; when he finished his bath, he took the towel he had previously left and began to dry, wrapped the cloth around his hips and came out of the shower to get dressed.

It didn't cost him much to get dressed, he was now a little more awake than before and he went to the first aid kit, looked at himself in the mirror and there he saw himself: It has been several years since he was a child, and his responsibilities were more serious than they could have been before, but this doesn't matter so much to him, because he would accept those responsibilities with pleasure and he would always be there for anyone who needed his help.

Leaving contemplation aside, he left the bathroom and went to the kitchen, approached the shelves and opened the door to take out a box of cereal which he left on the table to take a bowl and a spoon, emptying the contents of the box into the bowl. He opened the door of the shelf again to put the box away, went to the refrigerator and took a half-empty carton of milk to pour into the cereal bowl, having his breakfast ready, took a spoonful and ate it.

He slowly chewed the portion of cereal while looking around, everything was unusually quiet than he was used to. He continued to enjoy his meal, thinking about what he could do today: he had nothing relevant to do, but he did not want to stay home doing anything.

Without many ideas, the boy decided to go out and clear his head and maybe find something to do.

When he finished his meal, he left the bowl in the sink and went to the door of his house. Before leaving, he took his jacket, opened the door and went outside.

The almost icy air hit her face as the sun's rays timidly warmed everything she touched, under the stairs leading to the beach, letting the cold sand percolate at her feet as she walked down the nearest street. The boy's mind began to explore idea after idea, letting himself be carried away by the sea of his mind, so much to choose from, but no option seemed to convince him at all, which began to bother him, because in previous days this would be less difficult than it is now for him.

The walk of his steps took him very far, reaching "homeschool" without even having it in mind, he thought it was a good idea to make a visit (because he was already there), in addition to his current inability to think of something, so he let the inertia work and guide him in his today's activities.

Steven continued his walk, admiring every corner of the complex. Gems of various types were gathered for the day's activities: Some were physical activities, others were skill activities, a few more "precision" activities, and some were intellectual and creative activities. Regardless of what, there would be something they could excel at besides what their former regents would have told them to do.

Among all the "salons" and "workshops" of the place, he found one in particular.

The workshop was a bit large, with windows that left the interior exposed. The exterior walls were tinted a vibrant blue and the roof was a less clear blue. Inside the workshop you could see some easels placed next to benches and pedestals. Indeed, it was Lapiz's studio.

He went into the studio and found it with no one in it, Steven thought it would be too early for the manager to open, so he decided to wait. He walked around the studio looking at every tool and object there was, there were some "works" resting on the easels and pedestals of the enclosure, which were realistic and abstract sculptures, as well as paintings with similar themes.

His curiosity led him to one of these paintings: It was a cream-toned landscape and the view from it looked as if it had been painted from a relatively close distance. In this one, you could see people, who were doing agricultural activities. One of the figures was carrying a bag of corn on his back, while two others seemed to be crouching down to pick up the rest.

The boy was lost in the picture, looking at the smallest details, he felt familiar with the scene, but he did not remember where he had seen it, but there was something in that picture that aroused that strange nostalgia. As he continued his inspection, some murmurs began to be heard from outside the studio, which he ignored because of his contemplation.

The squeaking of the door was enough to make him wake up from his trance, and as he peeked out from behind the easel, he could recognize the figures coming into the studio.

The first to enter was Lapiz, who was accompanied by a Pearl, exactly, the former servant of Blue, who now wore a long-sleeved cyan dress, which was as high as her knees. The latter was carrying a leather bag, as well as what looked like a sack, which rested on her right arm.

They both seemed to be arguing about something, but stopped when they noticed Steven, who greeted both girls.

In response, they both answered the greeting with kindness.

-Hello, girls. How was your day?

-Well.-replied Lapiz as he moved aside for Pearl to pass.

-Greetings-Replies Pearl too as she put her left hand on her breast and extended her right arm-

Lapiz, missed how early I was seeing the kid, asks:

-I don't want to sound rude. But don't you think it's a little early to be here?

-That's true, but I had nothing to do today...

-I understand, well, as you can see, Pearl is accompanying me. She needs an evaluation on one of her paintings. -Lapiz mentioned-

Steven nodded, to respond:

-Oh, I saw it. I think it's a quality job.

The boy's compliment seemed to annoy Pearl a little, who let out a brief moan, which made Steven try to apologize.

-Hey...this...sorry, I didn't mean to bother you. -I was saying while moving my hands, trying to lessen the situation... The painting seems to me to be correct in its execution, that's all...

The response was rewarded by a heavy sigh from the girl in the cyan dress, who responded in a tired but somewhat still tone.

-Okay, no offense, I find it great that you like it, but in my opinion, it's not what I expected from me.

The answer confused Steven. Now he wants to understand the reason for his displeasure.

-I don't get it.

-Easy. Pearl made a gesture, asking him to come to the play. Holding it to one side, she begins to give a little lecture on her work. As you can see here, the parts outside the main scene are faded, but...the colors do not overlap in a "harmonic" way, making it look more like a stain than a field. On the figures, if you look more closely, you will see that the shadows are displaced a little more to the "north" of the work, that is, us as observers, than to the "west" of the painting, since the light source comes from the "east".

After his explanation, Pearl retires to leave her things. On the other hand, Lapiz takes a broom, and decides to ask something.

-I'm gonna clean up, are you gonna stay here or are you gonna do something else where I fix the studio?

-No, I'm going to stay here.

-I understand. You look a little tired, maybe it would be a good idea if you rest a bit here, it's a little cold outside and I think you might be bothered by that breeze.

That said, Steven takes a stool and reloads behind a piece of furniture that was there. He closed his eyes and decided to sleep a little until the studio was ready to teach.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a hallway, in front of him were twin stairs. The stairs were decorated with black carpets with floral motifs, embroidered in silver and purple. The floors were of white marble, and behind it, a carved wooden door with geometrical patterns, and on the sides, windows of clean glass and purple curtains withsilver embroidery. At the sides there were two corridors, which had the same aesthetic. He turned to the ceiling, and saw the chandeliers hanging above his head.

Was he in a dream? His experience told him so. Now he is more confused, since some of his dreams have to do with events that occur around him, but this one does not look like one of those events.

He started walking around the east wing of the compound, hoping to find something. The walk felt a bit lonely because of the silence that reigned in what he sensed was a palace.

The further he went into the palace, the stranger he began to feel, and he was right to begin to listen to a conversation that was going on down the corridor, you could hardly hear anything, it was a kind of murmuring, he was determined to hear the voices, which seemed to be female, and little or nothing clean came out of the conversation.

-(...) I understand.

-Tell me, Yo(...), what do we do?

-N(…). (…)(...)(…)

The voices fell silent, leaving the corridor speechless again. Steven felt somewhat unnerved by the conversation, he could tell that one of the voices sounded as if it were sad, on the verge of crying. Having no idea of anything, he continued with the exploration, which went on without any problems, and without any sound other than his footsteps and breathing.

He had not noticed the rooms until he began to see door after door, and as he stopped, he again heard sounds coming from one of the rooms he found at random, those sounds were sobbing, and very raw ones. At the sound he was stunned, for I doubt whether he should open the door or not. The discreet click of the door merged with the choked cry of whatever was lurking inside the room. He pushed the door carefully, and could see the situation better:

The room was big, and it had several pieces of furniture. The walls were painted in pastel colors and the bed was in the center of the room. At the front of the bed, with his back to it, there was a person, who was wearing a black dress. The dress looked like those worn in the 1800s. The person was on his knees, resting his head on the mattress, while he was crying.

He entered the room slowly, as he moved forward slowly, preventing the person from noticing his presence. He extended his arm shyly, trying to get closer, but, at the moment of touching her, he disappeared without a trace.

Before he could process what had happened, he saw that the room was on fire. Surprise forced him to approach the door and leave as quickly as possible, but this was denied, as the door was closed. No matter how much he turned the knob, it simply wouldn't open, desperate for the flames that were spreading and starting to consume everything, he slammed the door with his body in a desperate attempt to get out, but nothing happened.

The fire had already consumed everything in its path as the smoke swirled into the room. Steven felt dizzy from the smoke, hindering his mind. Even trying to get out, without success, his skin began to feel hot, hotter, until it began to burn. The pain woke him up again, and now, he started knocking on the door again, now with more frenzy, feeling how his skin seemed to peel off, his eyes became cloudy, making his sight worse.

Horror began to invade him, no matter how much he hit her, she did not give in, but her body did: her arms felt heavier than normal and her body felt sick. The blows lost intensity until his body collapsed, and now he could only see how the fire devoured what was inside the room, including him.

Before closing his eyes, he felt a light, which became more intense as the seconds passed. The light became unbearable, but in it a figure was manifested, which came closer and closer. That figure resembled the one he had seen before, but with each step he took, it became more defined, and that figure came close enough to be seen, revealing who he was, and she was...

…

…

Steven woke up abruptly because of the vision. As he looked around, he saw that he had returned to the studio. Now Lapiz and Pearl were looking at him strangely.

-Uh...Steven...-Are you okay?


	2. Farlands

It's been hectic months for homeworld since its dissolution. It is inconceivable to end from one day to the next with something that was already taken for granted several "moons"; the impressions were varied: Some celebrated the end of an era as if there were no tomorrow, with faith in the next projects to be carried out, others cursed the day it ended, since they had lost some facilities, honors and status in the process, while the rest were impassive or indifferent to the movements of the new states.

The fate of the colonies that were not on the periphery, not counting those that still had activity, is uncertain, but, in those times of crisis, is where visionaries appear, or simply people who want to take advantage of the situation for their own benefit.

The "Republic of Bodeachat" was founded on the principles of equity and equal and severe justice for all those who lived there, the newborn sovereignty found its reason for being due to the fact that the "old regime" remained in the new life of the emerging nations, which contradicts their ideas, and therefore, they decided to cut communications with they.  
Naturally, homeworld could never take care of all of them, so they always delegated the responsibility for these planets to a select group of people, who had to take care of them, although others have not had the same fate.

On the other hand, several groups also appeared, which were in charge of taking care of the colonies. These groups are relatively smaller than the now diminished army of the old empire and have communications with their distant analogues, making them a sort of "interplanetary league" of armies that help each other.

Someone has to be in charge of reaching agreements with these new factions...

That's how the morning in the “new” homeworld begins. The radiant sun melted on the earth, warming it in its golden power. A gem walks a little fast through the big square facing the palace, her movements set the pace, her breath is calm, and her mind is serene, they were all she let her see behind her.   
She was of average height, and of somewhat slender build. His tea was a flat brown and her hair was somewhat swirling, which was dyed a somewhat dark cream tone. Her clothing did not stand out at all, except for a yellow ribbon that adorned his head.

She went straight ahead until he was in the room. As he entered, he turned to his left and went down the corridor to the end, making another turn but in the opposite direction. As she watched, her gaze found a door, on which was a plaque on which could be read the following sentence:

-"External relations," she said quietly.

As she uttered the words, he understood his hand on the door and began to knock shyly, tapping on the door with his forefinger. An ominous voice came from behind the door, telling the gem what to do next:

-Go ahead!

Obeying the orders from the other side, she pushed the door with his hand, and as she extended it, she could see another gem sitting at a desk. Although she had arrived, she paid no attention to it and kept looking at the screen of her device, which floated gently in front of her face and her hands were writing quickly, with no time to rest.   
This one, without observing her "visit", began with her "interview":

-Osumilite, right?

-Yes, that's me.

-As you know, you have been chosen to be our representative outside the periphery. -Do you understand what I am saying?

-Osumilite scratched the back of her neck, and replied, I guess...

The worker, without showing any expression, learns it.

-What do you mean? -Then you have no idea what you're going to do, am I wrong?

Osumilite, a little humiliated, tries to justify herself.

-No, no! -Of course I know! I'm just a little nervous. That's all.

-I see... -The gem behind the desk stopped, and then, watched Osumilite... -Then tell me what you're going to do.

-I'll take care of reaching an agreement with the colonies outside the periphery, avoiding conflicts, mostly of a military nature...

The gem stopped observing the girl, and returned to her work. Having returned to her activities, she continued to talk:

-I see. Well, do you know Bodeachart, it's a new state that is a little far from here, but it's not really unknown. In spite of what we might have thought, the diligent rulers have managed to organize themselves in such a way that it might seem that they have always been like that.

Osumilite was silent as she continued to listen.

-Bodeachart's leaders are faithful to their ideas and somewhat effervescent in their execution, so we have had trouble engaging in conversation. So, for that reason, you have been chosen to be the homeworld’s ambassador in Bodeachartian lands. 

He stopped again and looked back at the brown gem.

-You don't have to do this, so we can find a replacement. But if you feel you can handle the job, we'd be more than happy to have you. What do you say?  
Osumilite kept quiet for a while. While the new nation sounded somewhat hostile because of the worker's description, maybe she was just exaggerating. Maybe they could be hostile, but they wouldn't turn her into dust just because she stepped on their soil. Deciding that this would be a new beginning, she accepted the offer, which made the worker look at her again, only this time she looked a little strange.

-Good. Let me just fill out some forms and you're good to go.

Having said this, the worker went back to her device and started writing again, it took a few minutes for her to get free again. Having finished, she took a sheet of paper and wrote something on it, having done this she passed it to Osumilite, who looked at the sheet, and sensed that she would have to write something on the bottom line of the document, in this case her name; having also signed, she returned the piece of paper to the worker, who folded it and put it in an envelope to give it back to the brown gem.  
The worker smiled as she spread out the sheet.

-Congratulations, Ambassador, everything is in order. Go with the sheet to the other office, which is in the right wing of the palace, and there you will be given instructions and equipment to work with. You must be here first thing in the morning to confirm and go to Bodeachart. Is that clear?

-Yes. Thank you very much.

-Not at all, I'm just doing my duty.

Having finished exchanging words, Osumilite gets up from his seat and leaves the office, leaving the worker alone.  
As she walked to the other office, the girl thought cheerfully to herself:

-This is my day! Nothing can go wrong.


	3. Lurker

Shee did not know what time it was, but outside his window she could only see the sky dressed in black and speckled with the stars of those distant plants, some known and others yet to be known.

Osumilite woke up earlier than he should have, as she had no time to take a break. With nothing to do to waste her time, she ducked into the bath tub to clear her mind a bit before her journey-relocation-whatever.

The warm water of the tub covered her completely except for the upper lip from then on; she had imported from the earth some implements to make this moment more than just sinking in water: bath salts and aromatic oils.

Shee did not think that it was possible to make something so simple a little more pleasant, but she was wrong. Osumilite felt the water fresher than it already could be, not to mention the penetrating scent of mint and salt that flooded the bath, making the atmosphere more serene. Now she did not want to go out, but time has no consideration for anyone, so he had to go out.

Before leaving the bathroom, she dried the remaining water and went to her room. She had been sent her 'uniform' as an ambassador so she began to put on her clothes and when she was ready she took a little look in the mirror.

She wore a light cream-colored tunic, whose sleeves reached the height of his elbows and the bottom half of his calves, under which he wore his "bodysuit" and also had on a pair of ankle boots which had some decorations made in silver metal. Her neck was surrounded by a bench scarf, which had three color lines in the center and her head was still adorned by its yellow ribbon. Although their clothing was somewhat simple, she did not expect much more, so she thought the clothing decision they had made was correct.

Seeing that it was not yet time, she began to walk around the small room of her apartment and lay down on a chair with some comfortable fabrics to give her more comfort when she sat down. Osumilite sat down and spread his legs as he joined her arms. She was more than bored, but the desire to know what Bodeachart looked like consumed her more than she realized. Trying to disconnect with the world, she closed her eyes and waited to fall asleep.

It was not as if she required it, but sometimes it was helpful to clear her head. Her plan became concrete and she felt dizzy, and not being able to keep his head upright, she lean over her shoulder to get his longed-for rest.

Before she could enjoy some what sleep, she looked at one of the clocks hanging on the wall of her room...

It's time.

The poor gem understood that she could no longer do that, it was time to stand up and leave for the palace and that is what she did. Osumilite got up from her chair without effort and advanced towards the door.  
Before leaving she put on her bag and opened it, took out a sheet of paper that accredited her as an ambassador and put it back inside. Without wasting any more time she went out.

As she came out of her room she saw one of those military ships, apparently they were also waiting for her to come out, so she approached it and went in. The trip to the palace was brief, so she went down the steps and continued his way inside.

Inside the enclosure, Osumilite walked towards the hall. As she walked, she noticed the woman who had interviewed her. The worker greeted Osumilite cordially, who returned the gesture. She opened her bag and handed over the document, the worker took it and signed over it to return it.

—That's it, all your documents are in order. Officially, your diplomatic mission begins in Bodeachart.

Osumilite took the paper and put it away. She nodded to the worker's words and went back out.

On the way out, she went down the stairs and back into the ship. The team said nothing and continued their work. The ship began to float, then got lost in the sky.

Hours passed, and Osumilite felt more tired than usual: she found it odious to have to travel from one place to another, especially being locked up in such a small space without much to do inside it, so to waste time, she started playing with her fingers until something relevant happened. Seeing that it was boring, Osumilite sat down on the floor of the ship and leaned against the wall as she closed his eyes. With a tired tone, she addressed the drivers:

—Wake me up when we get there.

After a few hours, which seemed like forever, they arrived at Bodeachart. Osumilite was informed of the arrival and she got up. She carved her face to come back from her lethargy and the ship she was travelling in opened the hatch, without waiting for her to be ready.

On her way out, she was able to observe a palace, only this one seemed to be under repair as she saw construction personnel and machines in the area surrounding the building. Osumilite yawned a bit before heading off into the nothingness:

—I must admit that they do an exceptional job, they restore very quickly.

The girl's statement got a response:

—That building didn't exist until now.

Osumilite took a turn for the unexpected company. When she looked at it in more detail, she saw a girl of a shorter height than herself. She had her arms wrapped around a book and was dressed in a black robe with very large flared sleeves, giving the impression that she was wearing a cape, but she was not.  
The ends of the neck of the dress were folded back and held in place by buttons, allowing the person's neck to be shown. The girl also wore an indigo scarf, which, unlike the Osumilite scarf, highlighted a pendant with a medal in the shape of an eight-pointed star.

The shorter gem start to speak again.

—I am very sorry for the surprise—she leaned in the direction of Osumilite—but I have to tell you that the building you are looking at did not exist until a month ago, and it is estimated to be complete by the end of this month. Despite its condition, it is already in operation and is the seat of government. What brings you here?. By the way, my name is Amber.

The brown gem replies, with a bit of surprise.

—They seem to have done a very good job in such a short time — they pass a hand behind their head —and even more so considering that it is not "big" in terms of height. Before I forget—she comes a little closer to the girl and as he unwinds his right hand on her chest—I am Osumilite, ambassador of homeworld. I'd like to know if I can talk to your leader.

The small gem closes her eyes as a faint laugh escapes her, and when she has finished laughing, she wears the sleeve of her dress to wipe away the tears her companion has caused her.

—Oh no. You see, you're not going to deal with the regent, besides, I doubt she'll have time. You're going to deal with me.

Osumilite strikes a confused expresión.

—Wh-a?

—the regent leaves in her charge representatives, representatives who have to deal with other representatives from other places. It happens that each one of them has a series of objectives to fulfill, but since we are people of words and not of weapons, we have to negotiate until both parties are satisfied, or at least not so harmed when it comes to consummating an agreement...And so.

Osumilite shut.

—Well, as you may have guessed, I am one of those representatives, delegated by the regent of this place... But today I have nothing to do.

—Wait... —Osumilite spoke a little hastily— and why not? Since we're here, we could start.

—Amber yawn bored—... No. don't you rest? We have plenty of time to do this. Besides, while we're here. Wouldn't you like a tour of Bodeachart's palace?

With nothing to do, she agreed to the ambassador's request.

Both gems entered the building. The interior of the hall had an aesthetic very attached to the old HW style, but with certain differences, not very substantial; the main windows were stained glass of alive colors, in which the multiple scenes of the panet were represented: from several festivities and milestones, landscapes of very precise details, important persons of this planet and finally, allegories of the values and virtues of that nation.

She carefully observed each of these works, and recognized that it was a very artistic way of making clear his intentions to the world. Having finished walking around the hall, they arrived at a couple of stairs.

Osumilite asked why they should put stairs in place of those elevators she had seen in that other colony, but the answer from her colleague found it very burlesque.

—It was not in the budget... But I could call someone to carry you—Amber giggle—

Ignoring what he said, they went up to the second floor of the building.

The second floor received them with a wide corridor now with chairs to rest. The chairs were not something to admire either, so they continued their walk. The visit was still dull until a sound caught the attention of both of them.

-Huh? -Osumilite began to turn to the sides in search of the sound source-

Amber pulls out a communicator. This one was not like those used where she lives, it had a rectangular shape, and apparently it only receives audio input and output. The ambassador put it on the side of her head and started talking to the device.

—Uh~huh. Huh... Hmnp. No, I'm already on my way— the ambassador clears the device while stroking it with her thumb-—damn it!—she whispers—

The ambassador turns to see Osumilite and explains what just happened:

—Ahh~. I'm sorry "Osumi", but I won't be able to continue with the visit, something just happened, so I'll have to leave.

Osumilite makes a gesture with his hands and answers:

—I understand... Don't worry about me. I'm going to continue with my visit.

—Are you sure? The building's in something big and you might get lost.

—It's okay. -Osumilite answered. I don't think I'll get lost.

—Well—Amber answers— Anyway. I have to go. I'll see you later. -Amber said goodbye to her companion by bowing her head—

Now alone, Osumilite continued to navigate the complex. She reached the end of the corridor, which now leads to another corridor which had offices. Without much to do, she continued to walk around the offices, which looked empty despite having seen some activity around the place.

She inspected every room and found nothing relevant. There seemed to be nothing else until he managed to hear a few murmurs coming from the end of the corridor, making her curious, making her stay to listen to the conversation:

—Good you're here, officer!— say the first voice somewhat impatiently—

—What's going on?—asked the second voice. This one seemed calmer—

—I've been investigating this group, apparently they've been recruiting more members. Although still few, most are from the upper classes

—So you're telling me that some military numnuts is trying to start a war?

—Exactly.

Osumilite was stunned by what she was hearing. She had a very vague idea of a possible new civil war, but they no longer had any reason because of the voluntary resignation of the diamonds months ago. But, if this is confirmed, what purpose would all this serve? Well, it didn't take much intelligence to figure it out: Power.

A charismatic leader with a large following would have no problem taking power, especially one who relies on the military and upper class, for they are the ones who possess the resources and strategies to conduct a war smoothly, and even more so with the decentralization of the empire. Whoever's behind this, she'll have no problem going ahead with her plans

Something inside her was telling her to get out, that it was not a very good idea to be there, but she ignored this and kept listening.

—Hm~~n—the second voice let out that sound—I see. You know something else?

—Negative. I've heard scattered conversations, but that's what I could get out of them. Still, we'll have to warn our—

That voice was muffled by a clacking sound, causing Osumilite to put her hands on mouth. Her body began to tremble, for she sensed what was to come next. Sadly, those conjectures were confirmed.

—Thank you, but I don't think our superiors really need to know, do they?—now the second voice sounded more fenetic— Well, I think you're a bit of a problem now, but don't worry... I'll take care of it.

A hollow sound was made that rumbled through the room, the sound of something falling to the floor.

*clang-g-g*

Before she could process what was happening, another noise, a little louder, could be heard in the distance:

*CRA~CK*

Osumilite's eyes opened and a river of tears began to flow from them. The surprise was so great that he let out a shriek that caught the attention of that person:

—Huh?

A frightened Osumilite, realizing her mistake, seeks to hide so as not to be detected. She walks quickly, taking care not to make any noise, until she reaches one of the offices in the room where she is. I turn the knob, and the door opens.

She walked to the desk and got under it, hoping that she would not be found, she did not know how much time had passed and only heard footsteps from outside. The footsteps were becoming more audible so this person was getting closer to her makeshift den. The brown gem, still hiding, heard the footsteps very close to her, but the footsteps suddenly stopped.

*Cree~ck*

The door was opening, causing Osumilite to tremble uncontrollably as she continued to cover his mouth tightly. Now the situation was horrible, did she discover it? It no longer mattered much, in those moments, the pathetic girl, still crying, entrusted herself to the goddesses she knew, truly whatever could save her from this infamous fate.

A heavy sigh was heard from that person, and then the door closed again. That person found nothing of interest to her.

Now she is safe. With nothing else to do, she decided to cry as her face hit the ground without losing the bite of her hands.

Can her day get any worse?


	4. Struggle

-You should know, damn it! That's why you exist...

The angry response was directed to Yellow, who asked about options for dealing with the unexpected problem that had been put in front of them. The perpetrator of the insult was a realy furious Heliodor, who had been given the title of "general" after her release, even though she should never have been locked up in the first place.

The so-called general did not seem to care at all about the tense situation, she had priorities for herself. The rest of the group of counsellors and officers just watch the scene carefully, as if waiting for something bad to happen before they start acting, as it seems that nobody wants to have anything to do with the angry gem.  
Seeing that this is getting nowhere, Yellow decided crossed words with Heliodor, trying with no succes, to resolve such a drama:

-I understand your frustration, Heli, i do. But we need to - before she can finish, a loud shout shut her up.

-SERIOUSLY? AFTER EVERYTHING YOU DID TO ME, "YOU UNDERSTAND MY FRUSTRATION", YOU STUPID IDIOT.

It didn't take a smart person to know that this discussion wouldn't end for now. Surrendering to the lack of progress in the operations, one of the diamond officers left the room stunned by the powerful screams of her superior. Outside, she fell on her butt and lay on the floor, thinking what they might do about this unexpected problem. Honestly, who would have guessed that there are now riots and insurrections throughout the former colonies? Maybe a few years ago I would have taken it for granted... but now it seemed meaningless. Even if, their job was to keep the peace by all means, and that's what they had to do now: to bring peace anyway and soon.

As she lost himself in her mind, she did not notice a quartz passing through the corridors, who stopped when she fell to the ground, and came over to ask what was going on, and if possible, how she could help her.

-Excuse me, officer. Are you all right? Anything I can do for you? You don't look so good.

The gem looked like all the others, except for her greyish pale skin and "strong" complexion, besides her upturned hair. The citrine answered her question somewhat discouraged, trying to conceal her condition:

-I'm fine. Thank you for your concern, soldier. But I don't feel the need to require your services, although I am flattered by your empathy.

Titanite, on the other hand, doesn't need much to know that her superior is hiding her concern, so he starts questioning her, but without being very "sharp".

-I'm doubting what you're saying... Are you all right? Your face tells me you are more serious than you should be. It's a result of the riots outside the periphery, right?-add as she stretches her arms out-I have heard various rumors, but no one is sure who is behind it, in fact, no one knows what the purpose is. I may not be as experienced in these matters, but I can assure you that it is not very difficult to convince people to do something if you use the nicest words you know.

The gem response manages to make the citrine sketch an honest smile loaded with a shy laugh for her. With some weariness she gets up from the floor and returns to the conversation with a little more encouragement.

-I'm glad to know that there are reliable people around here-she says as she grabs the quartz by the shoulder-I'm not worried that we can't do anything, what I am worried about is that we are wasting time on issues, which, while not insignificant, can wait. The newly appointed general is by far one of the best, but I think you know she was locked up for some vague crimes, well, she doesn't seem to have taken the promotion well and she is raging against everybody on the room. I'm not saying I wouldn't do the same in her situation-the officer is running her hand over her chin-but we are not in the mood for these dramas. Lives are at stake, and the least we can afford is to lose them-he concludes by lowering his arm in a violent way-

-I understand-says Titanite-you haven't tried to communicate with Steven? Technically he's part of the autority, so we'd have no problem trying to negotiate or fight, whatever comes first.

Citrine looks at Titanite with some fatigue.

-The last thing I want is to require his services. I'm not saying he's bad at what he does, we just can't depend on one person for everything, you know? Besides, I think he's got too many problems over there to fix ours. 

-Yeah, but sooner or later our problems will end up leaking where he is. We are not talking about a dispute, we are talking about organized groups which are taking over the colonies beyond, and it is only a matter of time before they arrive. I say that, this problem concerns him as much as it does us as a whole, and we don't lose much if we ask him for the favor.

She watched the gem in silence, thinking about what she had said. She sighed wearily and agreed to his request, leaving the palace.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

He hasn't been feeling well lately. Even though he's been busy helping everyone, it just doesn't feel like it did before, it's strange, it's supposed to be over, there's nothing I can do about it, but it feels... Empty?

This has kept him a little preoccupied, and his dreams are starting to reflect that. Speaking of dreams, it's ironic that a nightmare that was beginning to repeat became that refuge where he could feel safe from the world, that strange palace that only exists in his unconscious, and that, the more he explores, the bigger it becomes.

Yesterday he had such a dream, but this time he was able to interact with someone without ending up in something terrifying: That girl (presumably somewhat gem) with long hair as dark as night and pale skin with grey shades appeared before him to play; at no time did he mention her name and every time he tried to ask it it seemed as if he would not get anything. That creature led him into a garden where they lay in the grass and admired the clouds in absolute silence. That activity brought him a strange but comfortable peace, which he enjoyed while it lasted, because before he woke up, the ground was tinged in reddish and orange tones, the wind began to whistle, which made the girl seek refuge in it. Before she knew what was happening, she woke up abruptly, leaving him pensive about the meaning of what he had just witnessed; he felt that it had something to do with him, he really didn't know what was happening.

Usually by this time he would be on his feet doing something... But not today, he couldn't even get out of bed: he wasn't in the mood to do anything, anything until... 

-Hey! -You can hear knocking coming from your door.

He hear a voice speaking to him from outside, which forced him to get up with difficulty. Standing up, he put on the slippers that were beside his dresser and walked to the door to see who they were: A girl with a fair complexion and robust build was accompanying a smaller gem, only this one had a more delineated body, besides using a raincoat as a cape. He missed seeing them, but decided to put this aside and ask the reason for his visit. 

-Hey... Hello? 

-Salutes, Steven.  
-Hiya

The girl in the cape adds:

-Can we get through. The sky just got wet out there.  
-Yes. My hair is suffering, haha.

They both go into the residence. The officer is shedding her cloak as she hangs it on the coat rack on her left, and the girl is squeezing her hair, letting a small stream of water run down the floor.

-I'm sorry," says the girl.  
-Don't worry, I'll take care of it later-Steven says.

The young boy led them into the kitchen and offered them whatever they wished. Citrine asked for coffee, and her partner "anything sweet", received a bag of marshmallows. The gem officer took a sip of the hot liquid and began to talk:

-Well. The reason we are here is because we need "you" - pointing directly at Steven - to help us.  
-We have a problem, a very serious one-the girl turns to her boss, who gestures with her hand as she continues to drink with the other.

Steven arches a eyebrow at what he hear.

-Isn't everything supposed to be at peace now?  
-Theoretically yes, but it's not as easy as that, my disSteven-says the girl-The high and low "nobility" were affected in their privileges by declaring this sort of parliamentary kingdom. In fact, parliament has just ratified a law limiting the already void privileges of the military class, and I don't think they are happy at all.  
After finish drinking the coffe mug, Citrine takes the word again:

-Yes, that's right, partner. What we want to say is that, possibly, some group of nobles and militants will try to take advantage of the still convulsive situation in which we find ourselves to take power, and eventually return everything to the way it was before. Honestly, I find my situation improved, since I am not fond of keeping an "honorable image" and that pretentious crap from my fellow dames. By the way: You're not going to eat that, are you?- Aim for the girl's marshmallow bag.  
-I'd rather save them for later...  
-Whatever. So? Are you gonna help us or something?

Steven said yes. This would not have happened at all if it had not been that his tone of voice was very cheerful, as if they were talking about something of no relevance, making him worthy of a strange look Citirne courtesy.

-Of course!!  
-Hey... Are you all right? You look a bit happy...

Realizing his act, he apologizes to the girl.

-I'm sorry! I didn't sleep very well, I feel a bit dizzy.

Citrine responds more calmly.

-It's okay. Just relax. We'll leave when you're ready.  
-Welp, time to go.  
-Could you, at least give me time to dress up?


	5. Iliad

The makeshift team arrived safely at homeworld. They went inside the palace to search, and ultimately try to convince general Heliodor to carry out the plan; the halls of the complex felt emptier and quieter than they already were, which mildly caught the attention of the boy, who is escorted by the girls.  
Citrine, a bit tired, talks to her group:

-Apparently she's not here. I can't do anything if she doesn't give me her approval.

Before continuing his search, as if she were a predator playing with his prey, Heliodor comes out of nowhere, with her aura of authority. Without taking her eyes off the gropu, the general cleans her throat and exclaims with tone, avoiding screaming:

-What do all this mean... Citrine?

The Citrine officer was speechless, as was her group in presence of Helidor, who did not need to do much to make the atmosphere oppressive and heavy, any more than it had been before.

-He-Helidor- said the officer with difficulty-We are looking for you.  
-Stop! -Heliodor silences his officer-first of all. Who's the soldier in the pink coat behind you? I'm curious.  
-Uh. He's Steven-respond-I think you've heard of him.

Heliodor begins to watch the young man closely. When she finishes her inspection, she expresses his judgment to her officer:

-I see. I understand that "he"-she point in his direction -is the successor/congeal/whatever of Pink... Am i right?  
-yes, you are correct.

Heliodor puts her hands on her chin and starts rubbing herself.

-Hmmm~n. I see. So, "she" is supposed to be responsible for this tasteless joke which we call "homeworld" have fallen, and not only that, fallen without a repeat of the civil war, which she, I understand, caused...

The group remained silent for the sour response of the general.

-Well-said Heliodoro while laughting -I must admit that for the first time in your life you have achieved something relevant to your person, "Pinkie". Besides being annoying and superfluous.

Heliodor puts his hands together and starts clapping slowly, giving the boy a look full of cynicism.

-I, Heliodor, recognize that you have surprised me. I mean, how do you do it? How can you ignore the fact that you have sacrificed the lives of so many people in the name of your pleasure? Shit. I wish I had the same level of detachment as-  
-STOP.

Before she could finish, the silent Citrine raised her voice to her superior for those words. She would not allow her to refer in such an offensive way of him. Helidor turns in the direction of her officer, seems to be a little upset.

-Excuse me, Citrine. Can you tell me why you raised your voice to me? -She approach the officer in a menancing manner  
-Yeah, I'll tell you: I won't allow you to outrage my diamond in this way. Did you fucking hear me, right? I won't allow anyone, least of all a resentful idiot like you.

Heliodor covers his mouth trying to silence a few small laughs.

-Aha, I didn't expect you to understand that, or, to understand me. Although I can bet you're younger than me, am I wrong?

The officer looks petrifiedly at her superior, and then, she shakes her head. Heliodor, for her part, smiles seriously.

-I understand. I'll just say this: I've lost everything for nothing, and you too can lose everything for nothing. I don't even know why I'm still here with us... I guess I have nowhere else to go.

As I said this, Heliodor was leaving the group's sight. Before she got lost in the corridor, she ended up saying:

-Do whatever you want. Tell them I gave you my permission to do so, I don´t care less than you do.

After the talk, she retires. Now without her company, Citriner tries to justify the actions of her superior, simply out of courtesy to her.

-I'm sorry about that, kid. She's only just been released, so she thought you were responsible for her misfortune. Don't listen to her.

The boy crossed his arms as he closed his eyes. Heliodor's words had hurt him, and wanting not to show weakness before his group, he breathed slowly, trying to regain his composure in the face of the general's rebuff.

Titanite notices the state of mind of him, making her bend down a little while she passes her arm around his neck, while she calms him down.

-It's all right. It's not your responsibility.

The officer breathes out tired and orders Titanite to stay with Steven as she organizes her expedition group. The gem accepts and the officer leaves them both to go ahead, praying that the gem can calm him down. In her eagerness to comply with the order given, she breaks the ice, talking about the first thing that comes to her mind.

-I heard that in the colony where you come from your people eat the clouds. I didn't know you could do such a thing, the closest I've come to eating them is when they come down a you can't see anything, and as far as I remember, it tastes like nothing.  
The ridiculous question of Titanite managed to raise the spirits of Steven, who corrects the ideas of his companion:

-I think you're confused. The "sweet clouds" are not the same as the clouds you see in the sky, or the fog. Another name they have is "Marshmallows."  
-Oh~~h wow... That explains it all-the girl doesn't expect such a revelation

-Technically they're clouds, I think they were aerosols or something I don't remember well, but not that kind of cloud.  
-Hehehe, it's weird. -Why are you paying so much attention to these things, I'm not getting it?

-Uh, well, it's a very popular candy, although I don't think you've had a chance to eat one.  
-Is the earth a candy? -She asks in doubt

-Ehh~h no.  
-So?

-It's a candy.  
-I'm start to getting it. -How do I know it's candy?

-You'd have to eat one to know.  
-And you have one?

-Sadly, no. But when we're done with what we have to do, we can go get some. -What do you say?  
-Okay. Sounds good to me. -Finish while she shrugs.

The talk went on for some time, both discussing worldly things in their respective places, comparing how they see the world. The more the conversation extended, the more they realized that there were certain similarities between the two places, but compared to the marked and very obvious differences, they were few. This continued until the officer arrived, who ended the conversation with her presence. She tells them that she has obtained permission from her superior to make a “raid” on the colony, where the last expedition group that was sent to investigate.

Having said all this, Titanite and Steven follow the officer outside to put the finishing touches on the expedition's preparations. In the palace square, a unit of quartz can be seen in a casual attitude, the officer separates from the group in the direction of one of these older officers she mentioned earlier and stops to talk to her.   
Sensing that this would take time, the duo decides to walk in the direction of the unit. The soldiers notice the presence of their partner and the diamond who accompanies her, causing them to be greeted with varying responses.

-Girls, it looks like it's our partner Titanite-The soldier is silent when he sees who was accompanying the girl- -Isn't that... Pink?  
-Wait... Uh, it is, isn't it?  
-Oh my f... Dreamy stars.  
-That means we'll have double duty. Why am I not surprised?  
-I don't think it's a good idea, we don't even know if the previous group is okay...

As they came closer, the murmurs became noisy, everyone was talking in the air, and nothing could be taken out of that "symphony". Titanite asked for silence, and the group fell silent.

-I want to know who is the second-in-charge of this unit,-said the girl assertively.

One quartz emerges from the group relatively taller than the rest. Her hair gathered in greenish tones and her skin is of the same color only lighter. She wore the standard soldier's uniform, except that it had sleeves that reached halfway down her arms, of which the left arm wore a bow.

-I am indeed the second-in-cahrge of this group. What's the question?  
-Simple curiosity.

-Understood. By the way, "he" going to join us, right?  
-The girl nods her head.

-The quartz leader sighs. She turns and starts talking to her group-Soldiers, as you may have heard, we have a "valuable cargo" in our group. I want the tallest or older quartz soldiers to step forward, as I require a guard to take care of our diamond.

Sooner rather than later, the order of the superior bore fruit: five soldiers advanced to the front and took up a rigid position. The substitute officer began to inspect the elements of her guard, and finding nothing out of the ordinary, she gave them her approval and asked them to rest, which they did with the same speed as the previous order. The absent Citrine joined the group and greeted her second-in-charge.

-Officer! I see you've done a good job keeping order here.

The quartz second officer imitates her superior's salute.

-Thank you! But, I'm afraid to say this: I didn't do anything, it's the group who understood what had to be done without me telling them.  
-I admire your honesty, that's why you're here with me-says Citrine as she watches the unit.  
-Officer, I want to talk to you in private.

The second one's request didn't go unnoticed by the first one, who granted the request. They both withdrew from the group and started talking.

-Official. I see you have doubts, what are they?  
-Official. It's about Steven...

The officer stops in her tracks, watching her second with some curiosity about that question. She answers the question quickly:

-Yes, officer. You're coming with us.

The answer raises another question:

-Exactly to...?

Which is answered in short:

-Because we need a figure to negotiate with. Even though we have the means to defend ourselves, our objective is not to go into battle. First, we have to use diplomacy, and already, if this does not work, we throw ourselves at them and make them understand that we do not find their actions appropriate.

-That can play against us. Remember that they will go for whoever is most important. It's obvious that I'm not that relevant, but Steven... he's very relevant, which is going to cause us more discomfort than comfort. Seriously, Citrine, reconsider your idea.

Citrine stopped to analyze what she'd been told. While her second wasn't bad, it was a card that had to be used. They knew nothing of the previous group, and trying to go in the warlike mentality that was already customary for soldiers was not an option, so a more peaceful approach might lead to better results.  
Then Citrine, who would not step back from her plan, responded with simplicity and clarity to the demands of her second.

-I understand your concern, but a hostile approach is not going to help, not in this era. Consider it an "armed peace".

The officer retires, leaving her second alone, who was still not convinced by the idea of her officer.

-I just hope you know what you're doing.


	6. Strange journey

With no more words to exchange, the officer and her second began to mobilize the unit to start the mission. The ship of the group was the kind of ship that is used to mobilize many soldiers, which is a little disproportionate to the view of all, since the unit of the officer does not exceed thirty elements under they command; ignoring this, the soldiers and officers began to climb. Without any setbacks or slopes, it rose gently from the ground to begin gradually climbing until it was lost in the great blue sky towards the darkest sea of stars.  
Now outside homeworld, the officer informs her colleagues that she has to make an inspection in the "engine room", so she would leave the guys alone again. They didn't pay much attention to Citirne, since she would find something to do in the meantime. Titanite offered the boy a tour of the vehicle, which he agreed to.  
The tour begins in the "control room", which did not look very different from those that could be seen in your average ship. As there is nothing relevant to see, the group continues its journey to the living room. The corridors of the ship were a little long and somewhat narrow, so they saw that walking slower to avoid being trapped in these. Arriving, they saw the living room: The room of the ship was bigger than the " control room" and in it there was furniture of very simple construction, besides that, it seemed that there was nothing else there, without adding that there was nobody, leaving a little desolate view.  
Titanite expresses her discomfort at such a scene:

-Ahhh~g. At least they could have put in a sound player or something. Whatever.

She signals Steven to come and sit with her, so he listens to the request and takes a seat. The girl takes out from somewhere (maybe from her gem) a little white box, which she opens, and from this she takes a bunch of cards.

-Do you know how to play cards, kid- asks the girl.  
-Not really.  
-Never mind, it shouldn't be hard for you to learn how to play.

The girl passes the card deck to the boy and he begins to watch them carefully. As he suspect, it was a 52-card deck except for one rather, comical difference: the suits, instead of being the classic clubs, diamonds, hearts and spades… Were diamonds in their entirety. Only differing in color. With nothing else to observe, the deck returns to its partner.  
The gem takes the deck and begins to mix the cards. She cuts and mixes the halves without substance or trick, in the simplest way. She passes a deck and takes one, passes another and takes one, and so on until she completes four. The girl leaves the dough aside and takes her cards, her face showing no expression, as if she were concentrating on playing. The boy does the same and takes his  
As if it were a joke, he had been dealt a very good hand: "a four of a kind". This situation made him grimace in disbelief, which did not go unnoticed by his partner, who asked:

-Would you like to change a card?  
-N-No, I'm fine.

The gem just vocalized an "hmnp" and went back to see her hand. Having found the courage to show her game, the girl warns her that she is going to show her cards:

-Here I go-she says with encouragement as she shows her cards- See, a nice straight

Steven, without saying anything, shows his hand. His partner's expression of joy is completely drained. She tries to say something, but only babbles through the scene:

-but-but how?. And they're all aces.-She mentions hesitating.  
-Maybe luck is on my side-Sigh

The girl asks for a rematch, and this is granted. She takes the cards again to cut them and gives up her hands, again, the girl's defeat is repeated:

-Straight flush with a hit of mellow  
-Uh... –the boy showed his hand again with some concern- Royal

The girl was already beginning to show some impatience not to win a single hand. And again she took the cards, and again she cut, and again she handed over the hands:

-See, the third try is the final one-Her voice was frantic, as if she really wanted to win.  
-Look and cry: Two aces, a four and an eight.  
-The boy rolls his eyes, in a gesture of visible desperation, and shows his cards in the hope that he can prevent this game from ending in something possibly unpleasant  
-Four ladies.

Titanite's agitated breathing began to be more noticeable. Apparently she was trying not to get angry about the three consecutive losses in the game. The boy proposes something else, to which the girl agrees. To his surprise, the nervous countenance of the girl disappeared, returning to her typical enthusiasm.

-Okay~y, so where are we going?... Ohh~h, I know, we can go to the bedrooms. It's the most likely place we can find people right now.  
-Wow, that was fast.  
-What?  
-Nothing. Let's go where you say.  
-Prefect, then let's go to the bedrooms.

Forgetting what happened, they both leave the living room and head for the bedrooms. The narrow, labyrinthine corridors of the ship made navigation difficult, but it had a reason. After getting almost lost, they arrive at the bedrooms.  
When they entered they saw the soldiers of their unit: Some were sleeping, others were doing casual activities like talking, dancing... playing cards, it doesn't matter. The presence of the duo did not pass over the soldiers, some turned to look and others approached the group while the rest seemed to be more interested in their activities before the visit of the "officers". The guys were surrounded by their fellow soldiers, who had a very casual and carefree attitude, something very common in their class... Of course, with their exceptions.   
From the crowd one of them came out, who recognized the boy's companion, extended his arm and addressed her partner, who she had not seen for some time.

-Titanite, you magnificent bastard.

The girl responds and hits her partner's palm with hers, squeezing it in the greeting. The soldiers are pressed for a few seconds to release themselves.

-Wow, you're still the same old idiot, but you're our idiot.  
-And you're our dummy.

The exchange was pleasant between the two, who began to talk about their mission in the colony.

-Good to see you, Titanite. I guess the job of chief hasn't been easy.  
-I think you're wrong. I'm not a chief of anything, just an officer called me up to fill the ranks and now I'm looking after a diamond, that's all.  
-The soldier watches his partner in silence to answer again-Strange. Although I don't intend to dwell on the matter. I don't want to sound annoying, but what do you know about our mission? I still don't understand why we're deploying one more time.  
-The girl sighs-I can't tell you much, and not because I know, but because we don't know anything about what happened either. As far as I know, there have been unusual movements within the colonies outside the "periphery", so from what little we know, we suspect that some opposing groups have mobilized, possibly, to start another war.

The soldier only observes her partner in silence, having said that, her look shows some agitation for the news, which Titanite and her partner noticed, that he observed the girl waiting for her to do something to undo the tension. I didn't know whether to continue talking, since the rest of the unit would already know... or not. Without time to describe it, Titanite omits the disappearance of the previous group and continues with her story.

-And that's all. Our mission is more of a reconnaissance, we are going to make observations, and if we find something relevant, we will withdraw and our officers and generals (in theory) will have to plan something.

The girl is speechless. You could still feel the tension between the two of them, but before you could even think of anything, a voice came into the room through the speaker system that spread throughout the ship.

-Officer Citrine speaking. All units are ordered to prepare and line up for landing. A second officer will be arriving with you as soon as possible. Officer Citrine out.

The voice disappeared as it had arrived, and the call was enough for the soldiers to come to their senses and prepare to begin their mission: From one side to the other, and without losing attention, the group of soldiers began to leave the dormitory and march down the narrow corridor without piling up.   
The "bay" of the ship, the place where the tools and other equipment are available, in addition to being the main entrance and exit of the vehicle, began to fill up little by little. Rows of soldiers appeared and took their position in the small square in the bay, where they waited patiently for orders from their superiors. The second of the officer was the first to make an appearance by doing a small, accelerated march. She began to inspect the lines, verifying that all were in order and that nothing was out of place. Failing to find anything out of the ordinary, she positioned herself in front of the unit and began to speak.

-Well, soldiers, as you may know, this is a reconnaissance mission in the "3W" colony outside the periphery. The units are going to be divided into three groups to maximize the “sweep” of the area. Any anomaly you find, report it to your pair partner, who has to inform her Quartet partner, so that I or Citrine or that Titanite can do something about it. Any doubts?  
-No, ma'am!   
-Understood, soldiers. The royal guard will go with Titanite and. Me and Citrine are going in separate groups.

When I finished communicating the orders, Citrine appeared.

-I'm very sorry for the delay, officer. Some things got a little complicated, but they're all taken care of. Here we are, I think it's time to start the show.

The ship shook a little, this is the sign that they were already on that planet. The hatch of the ship opened, revealing a night landscape in which a small city could be seen in darkness. The officer took the initiative and declaimed:

-All units. March, now!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hee-ho


	7. Unexpected company

As they left the ship they got a better view of the panorama: That city, which once saw movement and life, now lay only dead, faintly illuminated by the planet's small moon. Nature was beginning to take back what was once hers, surrounding it with very thick vegetation and varied fauna.

The march to the city was quiet, perhaps some animals scared them, but that did not happen, a simple scare caused by the fauna that was really afraid of them more than they could fear them. After some time, they arrived in the city; in the opinion of the unit, that complex of buildings and streets saw better days, now it is only a shadow of a past that, in the opinion of a certain official, is better shut.

-Well-the second is addressing her colleague- -I think it's best to divide into groups and start checking the place.  
Citrine turns to see her quartz, who are a little bored, but willing to follow orders. She approves her second officer's proposal and speaks to the units:  
-You heard her. -We have to split up to gain more ground and make the inspection as quick as possible. If we find something that you consider important, we will meet at this specific point. Anything, report it to your superior.

Once the orders have been given, the officer Citrine take out a flat device and start observing something with it. Without stopping to take it with the hands, it begins to give the last instructions for the mission:

-We're going to make three teams. Team one goes with my second in command, they'll head east of the city-she says as he points in the direction they need to go.- Team two is coming with me to the south. Finally, team three follows Titanite, the guard and the diamond will accompany them.

The soldiers nods and the teams start to follow their respective paths inside the old city. Titanite’s team walks at a fast pace, observing the not very well preserved structures and buildings. The gem breathed a sigh and remained alert, looking for any sign of the last expedition, which was supposed to have been lost in this place. The silence was erased by the question of one of her soldiers.

-I don't want to sound annoying, but what exactly are we looking for?

Titanite answers without losing sight of the front.

-Before we arrived, an expedition was sent-she was silent for a few moments and then spoke again- As far as I know, this was the last place they arrived before they lost communication with us.

The gem concludes. The atmosphere of the place was beginning to be heavier, and to some extent, more desperate. The patrol mission was becoming monotonous by the second. Every street and every building in the place became the same. The girl orders a stop and her unit obeys, she sits on the sidewalk while leaning against the wall of a building.

The boredom was stronger than the duty, and they could not blame her. After all, there was nothing that caught their attention except the destroyed landscape and the odd little animal running for shelter. Titanite crossed her arms and spoke again:

-This is boring. If they got lost, maybe it was around. Besides, the vegetation in the area is too extensive to search for them -Titanite yawns- and we don't have enough personnel to patrol a patch of trees of a lot of many meters. Let's take a break, I'll tell them we're looking in the wrong place.

The gem's complaints were interrupted by a strange noise that started to be heard. Those noises were similar to those you would hear when there is a heavy rain, even though they were not so loud, they were clear enough to be heard by the group. That managed to make the girl get up in a hurry.

-In line, NOW!

The soldiers formed as they whispered to each other:

-What did we hear?  
-I have no idea.  
-They don't think it's... Huh. What do you think it is?  
-Anything, but I'm sure it's nothing good  
-Will it be them?  
-I hope not, really the last thing I want to do is fight.

A louder noise alerts the group. The ground they were stepping on began to move slightly, that noise could only be the result of an explosion. It couldn't be anything else. Instinctively, the officer ordered Steven to stand behind her while the guard moved to the sides. The rest of the soldiers line up in a compact pattern, waiting for anything to start attacking. Nervousness takes hold of the officer, who, as she began to feel terror, didn't know why, but something inside her guts foretells a coming tragedy.

The officer ordered to retreat, her group realized the erratic attitude that her superior was beginning to manifest. The soldiers were somewhat confused, and a few others were concerned about the attitude of Titanite, who turned around looking for something they couldn't see except herself. This was new, and frightening. That girl returns to her reality just to say:

-RUN!!!

The unit started running in a hurry, the officer's order was simple, run. They did not know why that order was given, but if she thought running was a good idea, then there was no objection to obeying it. Titanite, in another example of her madness, takes the boy and wraps her arms around him while she curves her back to cover him.  
The Dantesque situation causes some soldiers to begin to question the reason for their superior's attitude. Before they could do anything, the sound of a whistle began to be heard, it became clearer and clearer until another sound, with force, became present...

(BOOM)

The explosion hit the group, which had not sensed the situation. Steven emerged unscathed from the incident, but is now stunned by what happened. The officer was on top of him, so he moved her aside with a lot of care. As he turn her over, he notice that Titanite’s face is stained with a bright blueish liquid, which runs down to her neck.  
She tries to get up, but it's difficult, if not impossible, so she starts crawling around. The rest of the unit seems fine, except for two who have been "shattered" by the force of that explosion, which left a small crater nearby. The young man takes the initiative and asks one of his guards to help the officer walk, he tries to takes care of the two girls who were killed, but his guard tells him that they must go on. Regretfully, he accepts the recommendation.

The unit takes a building as a shelter while they try to clear their heads. All this has happened very quickly and they do not know who or who they may be - well, actually they already know, but they have not seen their faces or their way of working, until this very moment.

Silence took over the group, nobody dared to ask about the obvious, they are now in a battle, one in which they have to lose.  
The boy approaches the officer. He takes her hand and begins to ask if she's all right, she doesn't listen to him and responds to the mimicry of his face.

-What? What are you saying? I can't hear you, speak up!

He figured it out quickly, the explosion broke her eardrums. He put his forefinger and a half through his mouth and licked them, then brought them closer to the girl's ear. No results. The boy sat down next to her and scaffolded his head in his hands. He didn't know what to do, it's the first time he's been in a situation like this, it might be different for his group, but that doesn't take away from the fact that now he's directly responsible because the officer is unable to do anything in her condition, but what to do now?

Without many options to take, he decides to risk going wrong and orders his group to stay and take care of the officer while he goes out to do something. Maybe the stress started to make his judgment more useless, but without knowing who to protect himself from and where they are hiding, the only thing left to do is to force them out.

The boy set foot outside the shelter and started heading for the city streets again. The silence was no longer so reserved, the more attention he paid to the noises, the more present they became, even if they were whistles or inventions of his mind. He raised his shield as he continued to march, whatever was prowling the city must already be aware that it was here, so negotiation, taking into account everything that had happened before, was not an option.

The search paid off, as he managed to observe a figure moving in the distance. Those beings did not ignore the presence of the boy, making one of these figures stopped in its tracks and stay "watching". 

From that figure, a deafening sound was heard, which alerted the boy who raised his shield to cover himself. The projectile impact made a reverberating sound as it hit his shield.

-Are they using... Guns?

That thought forced him to retreat and hide behind the walls. Now he's really screwed. Of all the things that could be possible, he never thought he'd see a gem wielding a gun. Honestly, it hasn't been long since homeworld was opened up to his culture, there is no reason for them to use such weapons when they already have technology that is adapted to their peculiar nature, besides being "early" to implement them and a waste of time because there is no need for it anymore.

The sound of rapid steps called the attention of the young man, to see where those noises came from, he managed to see a soldier of his group, who was carrying those weapons in addition to a large pouch. The girl fell to the ground as soon as she was near him, she did not look calm, so she decided to ask for some information.

\- Is Titanite ok?  
-The soldier answers confused, but agitated-No. I'm from the second officer's group. My team was ambushed, I think they're all dead-end while breathing frantically.

That unexpected answer makes him sick, he couldn't believe Citrine’s second was dead. If that happened to her, it wouldn't be so hard to find out the status of the other group. The boy, lost in thought, is returned by the words of the soldier:

-I escaped and shatter down an enemy. This is the kind of weapons they carry, they are somewhat similar to cannons or arm extensions, but it stop shooting.

Steven understood what was going on with the gun, so he asked the soldier for this one, and she agreed. He looked at the gun carefully, it was very similar to that kind of gun that is called "sub-machine guns", its shape is very angular, appearing to be a flattened box.

He caressed the bottom of the gun and felt a bump on the "stock" part, he pulled with his fingers that small edge and the cover of the stock came off, exposing a glass box with a mint coloured liquid inside it. He closed the gun compartment and continued with his express inspection.

The top of the gun facing the muzzle also had one of those edges, so he pull it again and it opens, showing another one of those boxes. This one was smaller, so he took it and started to take it out of the compartment, it didn't take long to realize that it was an empty cartridge, so that part was where the magazine goes.

He asked the soldier to open the pouch and she complied: The contents of the bag had more cartridges and two "green boxes". The boy takes the magazine and puts it inside the gun to close the lid of the gun immediately.

For him, it's the first time he's ever held a gun, well, it wasn't unknown for him to use it at the fair or in those arcade games, but it was the first time he had to shoot something... alive? He didn't really want to do it, but, given the situation he was in, it was imperative that he fight the way they fight, and that means he had to stop thinking and start shooting.

He got up from the floor and stood parallel to the wall that covered him to have space to lean out. He pulled his head out of the cover just like his weapon and looked around, just like him, for an enemy soldier to stick her head out. Taking the opportunity, the boy exposes half his body and fires without aiming at his warning. The soldier receives the hits in the upper torso, one of the bullets ends up perforating her head, making that blue liquid drain from it as it falls to the ground.

-Eag~h

That image was not the most comfortable to see, even knowing that it had only made her "give up" her physical form. Abruptly, another enemy appears in front of him and again opened fire, this time, hit only the torso and shee falls bending her knees, extending her arms a little.  
Keeping his weapon still up, he began to walk cautiously to where the neutralized soldiers were. On the ground there are two black jackets with silver-colored cuffs and collars of the same color as the buttons, as well as two belts: One "cutting" in a diagonal line, and the second, in the middle of the jacket. When he flip over the jacket, he find that the chest strap is the strap of the pouch, he take it and leave the jacket aside. This confused him very much, it was not common to see gems wearing clothing... well, not really.

Her partner did the same and took the bag along with the gun next to the jacket. The soldier says something.

-This is going to help us-says the allied soldier as she passes the strap of the bag over her shoulder- now we have to escape from here and report this to our superiors.

The boy nods and they return to the shelter with the weapons. While they were running, an enemy group saw them. The enemy officer extended her arm, making her soldiers put down their weapons.

-Not yet, we must follow them. It's not just the two of them, there have to be more of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, this is gonna get messy.


	8. Another kind of gems

Those two ran to their shelter with the weapons they could take from the enemies who harassed them. Upon arrival, they were greeted by the confused looks of the soldiers who were given the task of caring for the disabled officer. The boy, like the soldier in the other group, put down the bags and weapons they had collected, leaving them on the ground. The soldier goes in the direction of her fellow group members, while Steven goes to help the injured Titanite.

The soldier from the other group starts talking, informing the diamond's group of the situation:

-My group, as well as my superior, were ambushed by enemy forces-She paused, then continued. -I managed to finish off one of them and escape, but not before taking their weaponry.

The soldier takes one of the weapons and shows it to her partners.

-These are the weapons they use. Like the arm extensions or portable cannons, they fire projectiles, but unlike our weapons, theirs use boxes which are put inside the weapon-Open one of the bags, revealing an elongated box-these boxes contain the projectiles they use.

Once the explanation is over, the soldier takes one of the weapons and starts to show the unit how it works. The soldier asks if anyone in the group has experience using the above mentioned weapons, two soldiers, one of whom is smaller, but not much than her group, step forward.  
The soldier of the other group hands over the weapons to the two comrades-in-arms, in addition to the bags of ammunition. One of them opens the bag to check the inside, finding a slightly smaller gun that was handed to her. When she took it, she was able to hold it in one hand without much trouble, as if it " fused" with the artifact. The little soldier looked for the boxes used by that handgun, finding four of them.

The soldier, now chief, orders the short girl to hand over the weapon to one of her companions, she agrees and it is given to another partner of the officer's group. Steven, unable to "harm" the officer, helps her to her stand up, ready to go. Titanite clings to the boy's neck, while taking clumsy steps. The self-appointed chief makes a one-handed gesture, ordering the armed soldiers to accompany her.

The group left the shelter, standing on the ruined street. Taking up positions, the chief takes a cartridge and inserts it while discarding the empty one, they are now in a fair condition to "collide" against the enemy group. The boy, the officer and the rest of the soldiers leave the exit, being covered by the improvised infantry line.  
The sound of footsteps becomes audible, and the line stays in place. They didn't expect you to get here so fast. The group points their weapons to the front, ready to attack. An enemy group makes its presence known from the "east" corner in relation to their direction. The chief orders the attack and the soldiers obeys:

-FIR~~E

A shower of small arrows takes place, the enemy soldiers begin to take casualties, others take cover, and a few, charged with anger, pounce on the small allied group. Titanite's group and Steven retreat as they lower their firepower; while one reloads, the other covers it while firing and vice versa. While looking ahead, they saw an enemy advance coming in their direction. The reinforcements doubled the number of their enemies, leaving them at a disadvantage. Conscious of this, the chief-soldier encourages the group:

-We have to get rid of them, whatever it takes. There are four of us against the world, but that doesn't have to stop us, damn it.

The words of encouragement from the head soldier gave them the strength to continue the fight. The chief jumps into the small crater of the explosion, as if it were a trench, while the rest of them take cover in the rubble or the entrance of the shelter, fighting without rest.  
While this feat was taking place, Steven's group was running in an unknown direction, fleeing from the fighting, the state of the officer was still dire, but the boy refused to leave her to her fate. Some of the bullets from the battle that was taking place behind his back hit a few of them, leaving them disabled. That made him stop and let the officer rest on the floor.

The action managed to upset one of the soldiers who accompanied him:

-What the fuck are you doing? Do you want to die?  
-I'm not going to leave them here, I just can't.  
-Stop messing around. There are more of them now than there were before. We have to go, NO-

Unable to end a word, a bullet pierces the soldier, leaving her unable to do nothing. The boy tries to help his companions, but he manages to see an enemy soldier near him. With no time to react, he raises his left arm to cover the attack, but this fails.  
The boy feels a slight sting, followed by an unpleasant sensation running through his whole being. A metallic taste is perceived as he looks down: A sword is piercing his belly.  
With no time to process what is happening, the rival soldier moves his arm back as he makes a fist, the fist comes closer to him, but it is not used, instead, the enemy uses his elbow to impact his face. The punch was enough to send him flying a few meters to end up rolling on the ground.

The boy tries to get up, but it's no use. The arms and body feel heavier than usual, which leaves him resting on the cold city floor. His eyelids start to get heavy...  
He's trying to keep them open, in an attempt to stay on his feet, but it's impossible. As his vision becomes blurred, the silhouette of that person is the last thing he can see, to make way for the darkness.

Darkness, plain and simple darkness. He didn't know why, but he was still conscious of himself. From one moment to the next, this nothing was replaced by the very familiar vision. That hall in that dream palace has returned, but this time, there is no light, everything is seen in dark shades and a few slightly bright greys. And again, Steven began to walk through the corridors of such enigmatic, but at the same time, familiar building.  
No need to add that you feel confused. His mind is going around and around, trying to come to a logical conclusion, but each one of them is a little uncomfortable to mention. The atmosphere of the site, despite its grim image, is comfortable for him, also because he knows it. 

His walk is interrupted by something... Or someone.

It's her, the same lady he saw at their first meeting, now stands, but with her back turned: She's wearing a dark grey dress with bluish tones. The dress leaves her back exposed, which is a black similar to ink, on her shoulders rests a small cape of the same blue-gray as that dress, which has a small ruff that covers her neck. Her hair is pulled back, arranged in a not so long "ponytail" and her arms bare.  
The image of that person was charming, but not without overwhelming with her presence; the boy remained static, observing her. The lady turned her head slightly, revealing very little of her profile. That surprised the boy, who regained his composure and remained expectant of whatever that creature was prepared to do.

-Eh?-exclaimed the lady.  
The boy answers:  
-Who are you?  
The lady was silent for a moment. For him, it felt like an eternity.  
-It doesn't matter. You have to go back...  
The answer confused the boy.  
-Where to?  
-I don't need to show you the way, just go back.

As he finished saying these words, a light began to fill the corridor, making the walls show their own colors. Without having time to ask anything else, the boy felt a force pushing him backwards as the light increased in intensity...

He woke up. The boy awoke abruptly, only to find that he was in a room full of other beds, like those in the old hospitals. He felt something uncomfortable in his wrist, only to see that a thin tube was connected to it, which led to a bottle of what appeared to be glass, filled with a clear liquid, hanging on a rack. He heard the sounds of footsteps and whispers coming towards him. He's glad to know that he's still alive, but now he wonders where he is, all that makes him dizzy, so he waits for the door to open, and hopefully knows where he's gotten to this time.

The door opened, revealing a girl in a gray robe with a bandana covering her head, she was carrying a sort of board under her arm. The shade of melon with yellow spots staining her face leaves nothing to speculation. I look at the boy without surprise and ask about his condition:

-Apparently you've woken up. -How do you feel?  
-Hey, where am I?  
The girl clicks her tongue and asks again, her voice sounds a little annoyed.  
-How  
-do  
-you  
-feel?  
-Well -Respond scared.  
The girl sighs in relief and points to something on her board.  
-Perfect. About the second thing, you're on "HNRS Fourth and second: the sixth"  
-Okay... Why is it called that?  
-Easy-the girl laughs shyly.-"The fourth" refers to the last phase of the movement our planet makes around its star, while "the second" refers to the second part of that phase. Usually we divide up the phases into three units. "The sixth" refers to the sixth day of the second unit of the phase.

Steven arches his eyebrow because of their particular way of measuring time. 

-I see. The name of your ship, adapted to the way we measure time, would be "November 6th".  
The girl makes a gesture of hesitation.  
-What's a November?

The boy laughs a little at the naivety of the nurse who is attending her. Returning to the subject, he asks what he's doing on the ship, to which he receives an answer that brings more doubts than conclusions.

-See, I'm a "field" nurse with military training. My team and I were sent to this planet for field practice. This planet was supposed to be a virgin, so it would be, according to our superior, the ideal place to practice in a less "familiar" setting. We don't expect to go into combat, if you ask me. So, one of my colleagues saw you and called me to help you, I had a hard time knowing what I had to do, but, as I saw that you were stained with red, I understood that you are an organic being, so it was not difficult for me to act accordingly. You are lucky that we found "gem water" nearby. Otherwise, you would be dead now.

-Wait, you don't know about homeworld? Not even the girls who ambushed us? And how do you know how to treat "organics"?

The nurse under his hand, signaling to calm down. Like him, she was also curious as to what the hell she witnessed, but she held her ground.

-First, what "homeworld" do you mean. Mine or yours? Second, I think I know who the girls who attacked you may be, but I can't talk about it anymore for intelligence reasons, since you are a stranger. And finally, on my planet we live with organic beings, in fact, a substantial part of our forces are sustained by them, and they are a source of pride for those who share with such creatures. The only thing I did was to take data about you and make some calculations to know how to act, it is not strange that our "mounts" get hurt and we have to treat them. Although I must admit that I didn't know there were more than "us".  
-Uh... Yeah. 

A soldier enters the room. His clothing was of very fine construction, with cream-colored buttons and that unusual blue-grey he saw in his dreams. The coat was as high as her hips, revealing a pair of the same grey trousers with cream stripes on the sides. His chest has some medals, his hair is pulled back and he wears a cylindrical hat with the brim folded at the sides.  
The figure mutters something to the nurse, and leaves the room. The military gem watches him, and then says something to him.

-I'm going to ask you to stay here. Until I have confirmation of entry, you cannot set foot outside. Understood?  
-Yes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Although Steven's saviors are from somewhere (far away), I prefer to keep using concepts, words and other familiar things for conventional reasons.


	9. Paradise lost

A girl in uniform in the style of the soldiers and with a very beautiful face walks around the square of the citadel with a frowny face.

-So the captain is already deigned to return? She doesn't know what's coming.

Next to her, he is accompanied by a councillor with a nervous personality, who reminds him to keep his composure.

-Honourable gem, calm above all. They're back, just ask the reason for the absence.

The brigadier stops short. He turns to his adviser with his angry gesture.

-I don't think you're understanding the gravity of the situation, am I right?

The councillor shrugs her shoulders as she holds her hands.

-I'm sorry, your honourability.

The brigadier just rolls her eyes and keeps walking in a hurry.  
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The officer walks through the halls of the ship, checking that nothing is out of place. While this is happening, a group of soldiers is forming in the cargo room. At no time did any of them utter a word, they just froze at their posts.  
The officer made an appearance before her unit. She shook the dust from the sleeves of her suit and addressed the unit:

-Soldiers. I have communicated with the citadel, informing them of the status of our practices... and they are not very happy to know. But don't worry, I'll take care of this problem.

He turned around and looked at the entrance to the cargo room

-Open the gate

Accepting the storm that she intuited, came against her, opened the gate. Outside the ship, a palace can be seen, surrounded by gardens and what seems to be walls, lowering the view, one can see two girls walking towards them. The first keeps one of her hands attached to her hips while the other one swings to the rhythm of her steps. The second keeps her arms down while she holds her hands.  
The group's officer extends her chin up as she sticks her arms out at her sides, ready for whatever happens.  
The gems climb the ramp in their own time, making the minutes feel like centuries. The brigadier peeks down the ramp and continues until she is face to face with her officer. She says nothing, just watches the officer in absolute silence, but her face says everything she feels.  
He breathes heavily, closing his eyes, and begins to talk to the officer.

-You have a quarter of an hour to explain yourself. If I were you, I'd start now.

With the warning understood, the officer begins her defense.

-My lady. I, Captain Gistelo, have left the established scheme for the reason of finding insufficient practices within the domains of our star system.   
-And? You disobeyed an order, as well as endangering not only you and your unit, but the security of our system. Do you realize the gravity of your actions, Celsian?  
-Celsian answers with some trepidation to such a statement. -I understand, my lady. But in my defense, I can say that we managed to gather intelligence.  
-I thought you were only going to do group practice, not spy where I didn't ask you to go. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask for your arrest.

While the brigadier was passing sentence on the unfortunate captain, a boy in a pink sweatshirt and a lady in grey clothes appeared in the middle of the "crossfire".

-I'm one hundred percent sure this isn't the bathroom.

The appearance of those two people made Celsiana "feel true terror".  
The brigadier's gaze shifted from the already dejected Celsian to the boy in the sweatshirt. The boy felt uncomfortable because of the aura of mystery radiated by that girl, whose eyes fell on him like needles. The cold countenance of the brigadier was enough for him to seek refuge beside the nurse.  
He returned to observe Celsian with more questions.

-Can I know who is the cute creature that is with us now-she said as she extended her hand in the boy's direction.

There was no response from the captain. The brigadier returns to observe the boy and his nurse. The girl said a lot with her dignified " poise". Wearing a bluish-black jacket, which reaches down to the bottom of her bust, she left exposed a metallic-gray vest, as well as her pants and a pair of shoes in a shiny matte black. His rounded face showed rigidity in that gray look, which paralyzed him in place. Entering near him, he bent his legs to bend down, staying at his height, his tone of voice denoting curiosity when asking a simple question:

-What's your name, little one?  
-Steven Universe  
-Hmm~n- The brigadier rests her elbow on her left hand, while she rests her chin on her right hand- It's a complex name... Could you be a darling and come with me? I have a few questions I need to ask you  
The boy pauses and answers:

-Okay.

The brigadier nods as she starts to walk towards the exit of the ship, directing the nurse and the boy to follow her. Before he leaves, she points with the finger at a random soldier to give her an order:

-You! The Albite in the third column on the right. Go and get a constable and ask them to arrest your superior - without lowering her arm, she goes to her councillor - and you, watch that the captain does not leave the ship or try to escape.

All agreed and remained in place, except the albite who was given the task of finding a constable. With no more earrings for the officer with the unsettling look, she withdraws from the ship together with the nurse and the boy in pink.  
Since they left, no one has spoken. The way to the palace became uncomfortable due to the lack of expressiveness of the senior officer, who, in spite of showing interest in him, continues with her "role" to the letter, without showing more of it. The nurse, who still carries her board, calls the brigadier's attention, who agrees to listen to her.

-“Pardonu min, honora oficiro. Mi devas montri al vi ion.”  
-(Excuse me, honorable officer. I need to show you something)

-“Guste kion?”  
-(What precisely?)

Naturally, Steven doesn't understand anything the two girls are saying, which worries him, since they didn't want him to hear what they were talking about, and it could be anything.

-Vere, la knabo, kiu akompanas nin, estis loĝata en nia praktiko. Mi atentis lian resaniĝon, sed li ne estas ordin’ individuo.  
-(You see - the nurse takes her board and puts it in front of the brigadier - look , the boy who accompanies us was rescued in our practice. I took care of his recovery, but he is no ordinary individual.)

-Kaj kio ĝi supozas?  
-(And what's that supposed to be?)

-Kiel li eble intuis unuavide, li estas organika estaĵo, sed estus eraro klasifiki lin kiel tia.  
-(As you may have guessed at first glance, it is an organic being, but - run a finger over the table - it would be a mistake to label it as such.)

Looking at the report, the girl rolls her eyes to the nurse while arching one eyebrow.  
-(A hybrid, this is new.) She thought to herself.  
-He, mi vidas. Kaj ĉu io speciala mirigas min?  
-(Heh, I see. And is there anything special about it which amazes me?)

\- Pro lia stato, estis neeble por mi fari pli profundan studon. Al unua vido, ĝi povas ŝajni kvarco, sed certe, de la maniero, kiel ĝi brilas, ĝi ne kongruas kun la maniero kiel la lumo kondutas enirante tiun strukturon, tial mi devis uzi kradrostilon por sciante kia individuo estas ... mi ne scias kiel diri ĝin, estos pli bone por vi mem vidi.

-(Because of his condition, it was impossible for me to make a more in-depth study. At first glance, he may appear to be a normal quartz, but certainly, because of the way he shines, he does not match the way light behaves when entering the structure, so I had to use a grating test to find out what kind of individual he is... I don't know how to say it, you'd better see for yourself.)

The brigadier looked at the board carefully, what the nurse was talking about surprised her very much, making her stop abruptly. This did not pass by the boy, who turned to see the officer, who looked back at him, only that, instead of showing that festive cynicism of before, he showed terror. The girl swallows her saliva and turns to the nurse.

\- Ĉi tio ... devas esti ŝerco, ĉu ne?  
-(This... has got to be a joke, right?)

The nurse shakes her head. The officer freezes in place while trying to think of something.

-This is a problem, a very big one. -This guy hibrid diamond! What the hell am I doing right now...)  
The brigadier sighs and watches the boy closely.

-You see, I'm not very good at this diplomatic crap, but I know someone who is. I'd better send you to her on what I'm fixing this, just keep your head down. Do I make myself clear...

My diamond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was thinking about using Kotava to represent that they speak a different language, but since it is a little "complicated" (besides not having time to learn it properly), I decided to use Esperanto.


	10. Congeners

The entrance to the hall was everything but noisy. Somewhat fearful of the taciturn judgment of that lady in black and gray, the young man maintained his submissive stance, careful not to disturb his ominous host. The hall glowed with minimalism, almost empty; without much to see or admire, the group of the official walk through the corridors, which presented seats and flowerpots, a bit odd, considering they didn't seem to share customs with the other gems he knew.

The officer asks the nurse and her patient to come into the office. The interior, as well as the lobby and hallways, is decorated with the minimum of fuss: In the center, an ochre-colored table and two chairs. On the right, a pedestal on which rest two black flags with some details in gray as well as a picture in which is seen the same officer with more elegant clothes, looking at the nothing. On the other side there is a shelf with, what could be said, books, with different colored covers and inscriptions that are not understandable to himself. Finally, at the end of the room, a window with a familiar shape gives a glimpse of a garden of colorful flowers.

The officer stood while reading something that rested on her desk. Finished reading, she pulled the chair back to get in from the side and took a seat. She settled down a bit and then rested her elbows on the edge of the table, proceeding to put her hands together in an arc shape. Her face still showed that severe stoic gesture of minutes ago, and apparently it would not change in the next few minutes. She remained in that pose for a short time, making her lean forward from the table, now placing her chin on her hands.

—You know, kid. It's an ungrateful surprise for me to have you in my dominions—sigh—What am I going to do with you, tell me?

Steven swallows a little spit at the gem's statement, Seeing the discomfort on his face, she continues:

—Maybe at the end of the day, I won't do anything— yawn with boredom—From the beginning, you don't have the strength to face me, so you're not even a relevant threat to me

What she said seems to be less aggressive, but she doesn't let her guard down. It's obvious she doesn't want him here, but that wasn't his idea... that's the way things were.

—Uh. Officer— the boy asked  
—Right—she interrupt— I never mention my name... Okay. It's better late than never.— The girl's back in her chair while she puts her arms on the armrests.—My name is Svaregan Malbrilanto  
Steven does not expect such an answer.

—I'm glad to hear it, "Svaren." But, I meant what kind of gem are you?

Officer Svaregan looks at the young man with astonishment.

—Hmmh. I am a graphite—straight answer  
—a graphite? Well... it makes sense, but...  
—Sense? —Ask a strange question.  
—Yes, uh. I know that you can make diamonds from graphite because it's the same stuff... But I didn't expect you to be one.  
—Svaren smiles broadly—Ahaha It's true, it makes sense. I guess I don't have to explain much about myself, right?

The boy's silence answers the question.

—Good. I understand that you don't trust me, but I can't trust you much either, since you're a foe, hence a threat to me and all my people. Nothing personal.—Svaren starts walking around her office while she talks—as I mentioned before, I'm not good with peaceful matters, although I'm not going to hit you just because reasons. So, I'm going to send you to Nacrea as a safety measurement.  
—Nacrea?  
—Yes, Nacrea. A country that's just a handful of miles away from here, it's a marine region. Now, if you'll excuse me—Svaren comes to the door as she opens it—I have someone to call. Be a darling and stay here, will you?—She close the door while finish talking.

Svaren closes the door, leaving the boy and his nurse alone in the office. The nurse, who hadn't spoken since she came in, starts talking to the boy in a rather animated way.

—And... What do you think of Svaregan? —She turns to see Steven  
—She's a, uh. A peculiar person  
—I get it—The nurse crosses her arms—It's not easy being part of the royal family, always keeping your shape.

The boy is intrigued by what the nurse says: He's part of a family, the "royal family," which means...

—She is the daughter of a diamond, right?—ask the boy with curiosity  
—Yeah.

The boy was speechless at that response. Now he was more intrigued to know if that diamond would have something to do with him or the others. Even if he wanted to talk to her, Graphite didn't seem to allow it. Now he has to get in touch with her and find out who's behind the riots around the colonies. All this becomes more complicated for him. The boy gets up from his chair and heads for the door, the nurse just follows him, keeping her hands in her robe pockets. They both come out of Svaregan's office, only to see that she's not in the corridor. The nurse shrugs her shoulders and waits for Steven to do something. The boy decides he' ll go to the lobby to look for her. They walk down to the lobby, only to realize she's not there either.

—Where is graphy—Steven asks  
—If I knew that, we wouldn't be hanging around—Answer the nurse.

Svaregan appears out of nowhere before the two subjects, causing the nurse to take a small leap thanks to the scare she don't expect from her superior.

—Your honourability, don't be so unpredictable.  
—I didn't mean to. Besides, weren't you two supposed to wait in my office?  
—I'm sorry, but the boy decided to look for you.

Svar turns to see him

—Well, I'm here. What do you need?

Steven asks about her, which she expected. 

—I don't mean to sound rude, but are you the diamond's daughter, don't you?

Graphite arched her eyebrow.

—Yep. I'm her adopted daughter... I don't know if you're thinking about the organic way creatures are generated.  
—Nonono,—Steven sakes his hands— I just thought it was weird for a diamond to have a family, at lesta, in that way.

Svar sighs.

—Ah~h. Even I forget that we're not the same as them.

The boy took the hint.

—They? -He mentions with surprise  
—Hmm~n, i thought you knew them... Then, you're not part of their "lineage"—Svar turns to observe something  
—Yes, well, my mother was.  
—Well, that's understandable. I guess your "mother" came after mine.  
—Huh?  
—Graphite make a manner with her hand—Forget it. It's not worth getting bitter about past grudges. The less I talk, the better it is for me. End of story.  
—Wait—the boy speaks with interest. —Your diamond has to—  
—No is no, kid. I'm tired of talking about it. Besides, I've already got the means you'll use to get to Nacrea. The faster you're there, the closer you'll be to retiring.— Svar turns her back on the boy as she retreats.—It was nice to meet you, Sven. I wish you luck on the trip and stuff.

With nothing else to do, Steven accepts and leaves the complex.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Graphite's name is made up of four roots in Esperanto:   
> (Svar)mo= Horde  
> (Regan)to= Ruler(leadership)  
> (Mal)pi= Lesser  
> (Brilanto)= Diamond


	11. Blue skies, clear seas and other things.

Without many options, accepts the girl's request, giving up his goal of looking for answers to the questions she put in the talk. Before leaving, the nurse says farewell to him, taking him by the arms, approaching him while she lays her head on his shoulder. She comes a little closer to his side and whispers in his ear:

"Luck on your journey. It was an honor for me to be with a diamond like you."

He thanks the action of her caretaker and begins to walk towards the door of the citadel enclosure. As he leaves the area, a ship is outside awaiting for him, floating calmly on the grass and cobblestones of the walled base. Sturdy and reminiscent of the cars of its planet, the object deployed a pair of skates causing the vehicle to land on the ground of the site. The vehicle, now static, opens a gate from which two elegant but simple looking gems emerge.  
The two girls came down from the ship, showing their forms: The first one, with a slim building and orange hues, whose hair was as creamy tone as ice cream. She wears a "horseshoe" cut vest decorated with two rows of three buttons, which kept a small orange ribbon in place, besides, she wears a smooth skirt that reaches the second half of her legs as well as a pair of boots with gray straps.  
The second one shared the figure of the first one, except that she was more " sturdy " than her partner. Her skin shows shades of green and blue in equal parts while her hair is a very dark green looking black arranged backwards. She wears a white shirt with flared sleeves and leggings at the height of her waist. She wears slippers, which are covered by her leggings-like pants, tied with a teal ribbon each.  
The girl with the teal ribbons starts walking in his direction, her partner, seems to be distracted by her tablet, the turquoise gem stops and turns around behind her, looking at the absent-minded partner.

"Pli malrapide kaj ni alvenas frue, kompaniano."  
"(Slow down and we're early, pal)," Says somewhat upset.

The orange gem had a shock when she heard it, making her start running in the direction of the young man. Arriving, she stopped short and bowed to the boy as she extracted one arm and put the other hand on his chest.

"I'm very sorry for my insolence, you horonable gem."

The turquoise gem turned to look at Steven again and put her hand on his chest like her partner, without extending her arm.

"Very good day, your Honorability. I apologize as my partner does for her lack of attention, I hope you don't mind."

The boy is more calm because of the girls' attitude, to which he responds accordingly:

"Okay, I think you guys care more than you should."

Steven's words surprised the duo. The clumsy girl straightens up as she puts her arms down, watching the young man with some unbelief. Her turquoise partner keeps her hand on her chest as she speaks back.

"I'm glad to hear it, your honorability. Allow us to introduce ourselves: I am Maro Ruzabando" Maro directs her hand in the direction of her partner. "And she is my partner, Suna Ruzabando"

When presented to Steven, Suna greets him with utter enthusiasm.

Suna passes her hand over the plexus and extends her opposite hand as if she were holding something out when she closes her eyes" The pleasure is always mine, your honorability." Finish speaking with a smile.

Suna's gesture manages to draw a small smile on the face of the boy and his partner, who can't help but laugh.

"Ah~hahahaha~ha" Maro covers her mouth trying to restrain herself, "Ah~h, I'm sorry, I just can't handle such theatre from my partner. Well, you can't expect anything less from her."

The girls enjoy their silly games a little, to come back to the "serious" look of a moment ago. Maro decides that's enough and goes back to address the boy.  
"hmmn." Maro clears her throat before speaking. "Well, you must know that we are going to accompany you on your trip to Nacrea. Brigadier Graphite called us for this mission, so we have orders to take care of you. We're reliable, aren't we Suna?"

Suna had stopped paying attention again and looked at her tablet again.

"What did you say? I didn't quite hear you."

Maro rubs her forehead as a sign of bother.

"I said we're reliable. Nothing will happen to her while he' s with us."

Suna looks at Maro weirdly.

"Maro, I can't even take care of myself, and now you're asking me to take care of someone else..."

"Shut up, Suna!," she orders.

"But it's true! It's not easy to pay attention when you have to take care of smaller and various issues."

"You have a point, Suna. But it's still our duty to take care of an important figure like him."

"I know..." Suna stops looking at his tablet. "Hey, Diamond. Have you upset someone or do you have a rival? It would be helpful to know what he looks like, so we avoid them and don't waste projectiles."

Steven answers something worried.

"Here, no."

Suna answers.

"Great. Now I can waste time on my tablet. It's a miracle."

Maro just looks at the orange girl with a grimace.

"What?"

Steven interrupts the two girls telling them it's okay what they want to do, he doesn't look threatened like the last time. Both girls agree and Maro mentions if he needs a few more minutes before leaving, the boy tells her that it won't be necessary, this being the signal for the three of them to leave the citadel. Suna asks the two of them to wait while she enters the building to do something, Maro and the boy don't see why they don't wait and agree to the request of the girl with the orange ribbon.  
Now alone, Maro decides to be more direct with his now protégé. She wants to know who he is and why he's there.

"Once again, Suna decides to steal my time... Who cares? " Maro lies down on the vehicle. "Your name is Steven, right?"

"Sure, that's my name."

They both stay quiet for a while. Although the girls are lighter than the other girls he met, it seems that this one is not very good at chatting.

"I don't want to sound annoyng," he said, "I've heard a lot of things since I got here, but it's still not quite clear to me."

"Seriously?. Well, I can answer those questions if you need to," says Maro, smiling shyly.

"I understand that your "planet" is ruled by a diamond, right?"

"Yes"

"Well, she has people in charge of certain things, like that country of Nacrea, am I wrong?"

"No, and yes."

"So?"

"Heh," she giggles, "you seem to be from the "that" place. Nothing's changed there, has it?"

"Uh, I'm afraid to tell you that a lot has changed.

Maro lets out a gasp of surprise.

"How long have these changes been going on?"

"Not long... A few months, maybe?"

The turquoise gem just manages to show a doubtful expression.

"Well, it's a long story, and I'm really not in the mood to tell it. I don't know. But there have been a lot of changes these past few months."

"And that's a good thing?"

"Of course it is."

"So, I assume you're here on "her" behalf to reopen dialogue with our diamond. I am right?"

The conversation between the two of us was getting to an interesting point until...

"HEY, MAROOO. I'M ALREADY HERE," Shout Suna in a singing voice.

"Uwa-Suna. So you're here. What's the delay?"

"I'll just say this: Don't drink bubbly water before an escort mission. And I think we'll have to stop somewhere else."

"What?"

"Nothing, I just drank more water, Can't I?"

"There was a need for it"

"Not really... But I was going to do it anyway."

"Forget it."

Given up, Maro decides it's time to leave at once. Before leaving, she decides to make an inspection of her ship before even turning it on, while she takes care of it, Steven and Suna get into the vehicle and settle in. The interior was very similar to those cars with screens and computers, only this one did not have any steering wheel, lever or pedals. The boy closes the door on his side and lays his head down on the seat.  
Suna ignores him and goes back to his tablet to do what he was doing before. The turquoise gem informs them that everything is in order and enters the vehicle.

"Now it's time. Time to go."

Having said that, the ship lights up and starts to float smoothly, giving a few wobbles as it gains altitude. Being at a conceivable distance from the ground, it began to move forward making a muffled noise, leaving that place, heading for unknown lands.


	12. Nacreous sea

The ship had taken off hours ago. The trip seems boring, but serene compared to everything he had to see and experience before arrived at such, unknown place. Far from home, he is now alone, exposed to the harshness of the inhospitable planet, which, he begins to show signs of not being so unknown to him, at least in certain matters; he looked out of the window of the vehicle and was able to admire the beautiful spectacle offered by the landscape.

The mountains painted in a green that breathes life next to the fractured, gallant and irregular terrain tinted in ochre and sand. The vast blue sky allows us to see the great clouds, crossing the solitary territories of that planet. Steven decides to go back inside: The orange gem is not paying attention to him, she is more interested in what he is doing with his tablet. Turquoise, on the other hand, is focused on driving.

The orange gem's attitude brings back certain memories of someone in particular, which, in turn, makes her smile.

He Lied down on the seat again, thinking about everything that has happened around it, not just in the last few days. Every memory, every thought, caused him some discomfort. The boy decides to ignore this and move on to other things, although that was still related, but this time, it's about that Graphite. Despite the aggressive way in which she treat him, he did not feel that these emotions were born of hatred, and this remained the same after meeting him. Svar, is simply trying to "protect" that which she has been asked to protect, but which she really appreciates, in this case, her diamond.

Steven was surprised to learn that she was her "daughter", as relationships between gems are somewhat more complex. The fact of being linked to her gives her more of a "level", but it seems that she is the one who protects her, and this was demonstrated by her reluctance to interact with him or mention her name. Maybe it's different, but how much? The boy closed his eyes, letting the sound of the air hitting outside, his head spinning and his body feeling lighter, as if it were floating in nothingness. Before he could take a break, the voice of one of his caretakers brought him back to his vigil:

"We're already in Nacrea, guys! Get your things ready, I don't intend to return to this vehicle if you forget anything." Turquoise turns to look at Suna.

Suna hisses.

"I don't care. It's about time I got a vacation. You know how many years I've been doing uninterrupted duty? A lot."

"Suna... I don't think this is a vacation. Stick to the plan and don't do anything stupid."

While Maro scolded his partner, Suna turns towards Steven, looking him.

"You know what?" Suna poke her cheeck, "I think I have you to thank you. Don't get me wrong, but this is the first time I've had a less stressfull work than I'm used to."

Suna finished talking and laid her head on the window. The city began to reveal itself to them. The coastline of the "country" was extensive, with the elfin mountains behind it. The line was surrounded by what appeared to be passes, which in turn were surrounded by small, but wide buildings. Strangely, he could not see any buildings that were higher, that place gave the impression of being modest. The blue sea, so big and imposing, shone brightly. It is not empty, as large ships and smaller ones set sail in the waters with bearing. He turn away his sight, seeing a tower in the distance that is getting bigger. Around that tower, it could seen a gray floor, divided by a darker gray strip, and some small buildings around them.

Other ships, of different shapes and sizes, are parked right there. The ship they're going in, flying over it. The vehicle stops in place and remains static in the air, then gently descends. Gradually the ship comes close to the ground until it feels a slight bump, which causes it to jump very slightly on the seat where it is sitting. They are now in Nacrea. For some reason, Steven couldn't help but feel excited, maybe that mission, as the orange girl says, feels more like a trip rather than a mission, something that is not hostile or intimidating, and the view of the airport and the coast gave him an image worthy of a heavenly destination. They opened the doors of the vehicle and got out. They closed and started to get rid of it. Turquoise and her partner met with the boy to report on the next thing to be done. The orange gem now carries a backpack behind her back, which she takes off and leaves on the floor as she kneels and opens it to look for something. Suna asks Maro another question again.

"Maro, it wouldn't be a problem if we stopped at some establishment to take a break from the trip, would it?"

Maro is irritated by such a proposal.

"Are you serious?"

Suna raises her head, watching her partner.

"I think our protégé needs to rest. Besides, you forget their condition, organic beings need food to subsist, although in our case it is more a matter of recreation, the fact that there are specialized premises is advantageous to us. I think he must be in need of liquids and food."

Maro turns in the direction of the boy while making an annoying noise.

"Grrr. I forget it." Maro turns to the boy, "sorry I ignored that part. I guess you must be thirsty, hungry... or both. How about we make that stop?"

The boy answered in the affirmative, but with reservations.

"It would be great. I just hope I'm not causing any trouble."

Maro responds immediately to this statement.

"No, not at all. At the end of the day it is our job to take care of your wellbeing and prevent any harm from happening to you, it is no bother to me." Turquoise looks around with bother."But now we have another problem. We don't have a suitable vehicle for the city" Maro passes his hand over her face "Ahh~gh. Well, we'll have to find one. It's either that or walk."

Steven find himself stunned and confused by what Maro said, making him ask what's wrong with their ship.

"Can't we use the ship we came in on, is there any limitation?"

"No. The law in Nacrea is a little too much strict when it comes to mobility. By law, no vehicle intended for city use has to be more than half a "regi" above the ground, otherwise it is taken as an aircraft. You know, that kind of thing bureaucratic gems love to check."

"I understand. So where do we get this vehicle now?"

Maro takes his chin while resting his elbow on the opposite hand, thinking about where to get the above mentioned vehicle. The orange gem proposes an idea about the problem.

"We can use the public system. It's not as slow as at Ni'Tero."

Maro responds to Suna's idea with a grunt.

"I get it, you don't like to be surrounded by more than two people, so don't be so aggressive."

The turquoise gem is silent and freezes in place, looking for a solution to such an obtuse problem. The boy walks around a little to observe the surroundings, as if he were looking for something that could help him, on the other hand, Suna keeps doing the same thing to him. The "airport" is a little far from the city at first sight, so the traffic is almost zero. The boy proposes that, at the very least, they could walk to the outside of the airport and look for a means of transport outside the place. With no option available, Maro agrees to the boy's orders.  
The group is on their way out of the airport. A transit route is unpopulated, lost in the almost infinite horizon. Suna mentions how strange it is for her to see Nacrea airport so empty, she mentions that it would have been a better idea to go by boat in spite of being slower as soon as they arrived, but they would not be forced to walk miles to the city. Without many options, the group began to move forward at the speed their legs would allow. They did not know how much time had passed, but they already felt that it was eternal to advance towards the coast at such a speed. Steven kept his hands in his jacket and continued to advance, his face just reflecting boredom as did his turquoise keeper, although the latter looked more impatient to arrive.

Lost in their minds, they both went on. Suna, however, looked around cautiously, looking for any sign of life that might aid them in their journey. Fortunately for her, she managed to see some peculiar figures in the distance, causing her arms to flutter, attracting the attention of those figures. Her action did not go unnoticed by Steven and Maro, who looked at Suna's mime with some confusion. The figures Suna saw began to move in her direction, they could not be seen clearly from a distance, but with each step they took, they became clearer, showing their nature. They were four beings, one of them seemed to be longer, but this was due more to the distance of observation, because in reality a girl was mounted on a creature.

They were bipedal, with thick legs and long tails, adorned by what looked like feathers as well as the body, with bright colors and mottled patterns. The head was just right in size, with a crest rising from the forehead and extending upward in a curve, ending in a ball and a medium-length but robust neck.

It was not strange for him to see animals outside of the earth, what he found somewhat "shocking", was to see animals with similar uses to those on his planet. In fact, Homewrold recently have given up on destroying everything they touch, but not in this case.

The rider, owner of the beasts, asks if they need help, because of Suna's gestures.

"Do you need help? ," She says, "the gem with the orange ribbon was gesturing. Is there anything I can help you with?"

Maro tries to take the floor, but is interrupted.

"We came from Ni'Tero and arrived at the airport, but there is not much activity in this area." Suna said. "So we saw you and thought that you could take us to the coast."

The rider is sympathetic and offers to take them into town.

"Of course I can get them to the coast, walking is very time-consuming, and even more so as the terrain becomes more difficult to negotiate. What are you waiting for? Get on." The rider fans her arm, showing off her mounts with presumption.

The group obeys and they get into the "mounts". The rider makes a whistle and the mounts begin to walk. The journey has now become easier, so they won't have to wait long to get there. Suna is struck by the fact that Steven has no difficulty keeping his balance while riding the beast, making her ask if he has any experience at all:

"Hey Steven."

"Tell me?"

"I see you have no problem riding, I can't say the same for Maro. Are you also a rider or something?"

the boy laughs, "no, I'm not by any means, but I do have some experience."

"I could expect no less from a diamond. Still, it doesn't look like you're a novice at this."

"Stop, you're making me blush."

"It's true, your actions indicate to me that you're already familiar with the "tradition" of mounts."

"Well, on my planet we have similar creatures, is not unfamiliar for me doing this."

"Oh, I understand."

The group moved on, heading to the nacrean coast. Anything could happen, but it won't be necessary to keep your guard up, not for now.


	13. Chapter 13

The passage through the zone was not comfortable. The fractures in the ground, the slopes and cliffs forced the group to take caution. If a mount was injured in the attempt, it would mean leaving the creature there and having to advance between rocks and falls.  
They made it down the cliffs of the bay to clear clear regulated terrain. Maro asks the rider where she's going, so she can know whether to continue using her services or skip to another.

"Excuse me?", Maro asks seriously. "May I know where you're going?"

"What do you want to know that for?,"the rider asks.

"I need to know in case you were headed to the same place as us."

The rider made a noise telling the turquoise that she understood her idea.

"Ahhh~h. I see. I'm heading downtown. You're going that way just like I am, am I right?"

Maro answer gladly. "Of course, we're going to the same place."

The rider smiled at Maro. They continued to ride on those beasts of lush plumage, wandering the streets of Nacrea. People of all sorts and classes walked along the sidewalks, vehicles of different sizes rushed to where fate indicated, but they rode along a somewhat narrow part of the street at their own pace. Some indiscreet sights watch them with some intrigue, as if it were not so common to ride on a giant bird.  
Suna, in a clear demonstration of childish arrogance, places his left hand on his hip and takes the reins of the animal with his right, prostrating it on his chest, while she raises her chin, prostrating her eyes to the front, calling the attention of more civilians.

Maro notices her partner's attitude and scolds her for doing such an action:

"Damni, Suna. Halt ke, vi ne estas monti oficiro."  
"(Goddamn, Suna. Stop it, you're not a mount officer.)"

The girl lowers the bridle straps and leaves her hand at hip level as before

"You're so bitter."

"Bitter? You even know the meaning of "stolen valor" "

"Pff. Whatever you say."

Suna put an end to the discussion, going back to doing what she has been doing for some time now: finding a food establishment.  
Strangely enough, she desisted.

"You know what, forget it. We have to go to the palace."

Suna's sudden change of plans caused Steven and turquoise to turn to her. Naturally, Maro questioned her partner about the sudden change of plan. Suna, on the other hand, argued that considering the facts, it is better to hurry to where they have to go and finish what they have to do, the boy accepted Suna's decision like Maro did. The streets of the city became more congested as they went through them, slowing the group down from time to time. Suna stopped and took her tablet, the rest of the group just watched the girl move her fingers on the screen, without losing sight of the screen. Suna left the object and addressed the group.

"Checking the map. We have to turn left from the main avenue, that is, where we are now to get to the "Mussel's Palace" "

"Mussels?,"Steven asks for that name.

"Mussel's Palace. Is the name of the royal residence of the regent of Nacrea; Prolumo Malbrilianto, the "Granda Diamantido" of Nacrea and Ni'Tero"

Steven was amazed to hear that name again, forcing himself to ask something very obvious to his partner.

"Malbrilianto? So, she is-"

Maro interrupts them both, finishing the boy's sentence.

"Svaregan's sister."

He doesn't believe Maro's words. Intrigued to know more about her , he start hitting the duo with more and more questions.

"I can't believe the Diamond has two daughters. I mean, it's unusual, but I thought Svaregan was the only one in her class."

"Well, no. Svar has a sister. But don't get your hopes up, she's not very "competent"," Suna implies with malice

"Competent?"

"According to rumours from political circles in Ni'Tero, Prolumo, the regent of Nacrea, requires a lot of help from her council to decide, being somewhat dull in her actions."

Steven keeps looking at Suna with trepidation. She points out that it is only gossip that is told in her workplace, but she was tempted to bring it up.

Forgetting what was mentioned before, the group returns to the road and turns in the direction of the palace. The circulation became lighter as they lost time, so they did not have to go at a slow pace taking care not to hurt the mounts. Without more time to lose, Suna gives a blow to the back of the creature and it begins to run. The action of Suna achieved its goal, because Maro, Steven and the owner of the animals forced their respective mounts to go faster to chase her.

Suna turns to look behind her and watches to the group following her. As if she was playing with them, Suna pulls the mount's rein and it turns to the right, while she jumps on a car. The action makes the driver stop abruptly, making the rest stop as well. The trio takes advantage of the moment of chaos to follow the trail of the orange gem, crossing the street effortlessly.

The mounts run with energy, advancing step by step with force. The group left the street to realize they had lost track of Suna. Steven looks around. Turning to the side he sees a palace in the distance while forces the view, managing to find Suna, who is now a small shadow that bounces up and down. The boy calls the attention of the group and points in the direction of the "fugitive". Without thinking much about it, Maro starts and goes in the direction given by him. He and the other rider follows Maro.

The street is empty, which allows them to go at a respectable speed. The palace became bigger and bigger as the meters passed, before they could realize it, they left the road and went into the palace square, which was big, as was their view of the building that was watching them.

Suna's figure stopped her march. Still, the mount turned over, now watching the group it had left behind.  
The group also noticed that the girl was watching them. Nearby, the beasts stopped the pace, circling the girl. Now all together, Maro takes a breath of air, preparing to give her partner the biggest scolding she could get for such a careless attitude.

Maro sighs deeply, "Ahh~h." She is silent for a few moments. Maro joins her fingertips keeping up. "Suna..." She points suna.

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING CROSSING THE STREET IN SUCH AN IRRESPONSIBLE WAY. NOT ONLY THAT, YOU ALSO SPLIT UP FROM THE GROUP EVEN THOUGH ONE OF THE ORDERS WE WERE GIVEN WAS NOT TO SPLIT UP FROM OUR PROTEGE. AND IF WE ADD TO THAT THAT THE POOR GIRL WHO LENT US THE MOUNTS HAD TO PUT ASIDE HER PLANS JUST BECAUSE YOU WANTED TO PLAY. SERIOUSLY, SUNA, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING? YOU CAN'T FOLLOW A DAMN ORDER WITHOUT BEHAVING LIKE AN IDIOT?"

While this was going on, Suna was just smiling stupidly. The girl gives the boy a look as she extends her arms.

"Ta~dah. Here is the mussel's palace, symbol of Nacrea royalty, and by extension, Ni'Tero. Its construction began in 12-"

"DAMN YOU, SUNA. YOU PUT US AT RISK, AND YOU'RE GIVING HIM A TOUR?"

Suna responds with serenity. "Yes, I thought it would be great if the young man knew a little about nacrean cul-"

"WAS A RHETORICAL QUESTION."

Steven, seeing such a ridiculous scene, covers his mouth, as an effort not to laugh at the over-dimensional reaction of turquoise, the reaction draws the attention of the duo. Suna, in her particular playful nature, turns to Maro.

"See? Even he knows you're exaggerating."

Maro, exhausted, covers her face as she grunts in frustration. Suna, on the other hand, keeps talking to the boy.

"As I said, the construction of the palace began in the year 1298 of the first regime. It was built with "blangrizka" stone, a stone composed by calcium salts. Very cute, indeed."

"That... was mildly informative. But it's good." Steven says.

"Thank you. For the first time I'm a tour guide, I'm not that bad."

The boy laughs again at the girl's response, while Maro, for her part, returns to normal, addressing the group.

"At least we're here now. We have to go to the front door of the site and report that we have, well, you have," she tells Steven. "An audience with the "Diamantido Prolumo". "

"Don't worry, kid. I know you'll do well, besides, you're very pretty, she might even invite you on a date," mention Suna with enthusiasm.

Suna's words make him blush, making her laugh at his reaction

"My stars, did my words embarrass you? Haha." Suna keeps talking more calmly. "I'm not lying, you're cute."

The gem's mission is over for now, but his is starting now. The group is marching back to the front of the palace, ready for anything.


	14. Audience(Part I)

The group advanced through the square towards the entrance of the enclosure, maintaining their composure after the previous scene. They would be lying if they said they were calm, especially Steven, who feels the pulse of his heart racing at the thought of having an audience with a sovereign, more than anyone else, he had a greater pressure to make a good impression on the graphite princess, otherwise his luck would run out.

They met closer to the gates, their presence was intercepted by a couple of guards, who, like him and his group, ride on that bird-like creatures. The guards wear dark red uniforms, which include a dark red sack and black straps across their chests and waists, in addition to a collar that covers their entire neck. A pointed "plate" extending from the base of the neck and shoulders down to the bust.

The riders approach the group making signs.

"Haltu, eksterlandanoj!"

"(Stop, foreigners!)" The guard extends her arm, showing the palm.

The group stopped at the order, the two guards approached until they were facing each other. The second guard, who carried a spear to the side, asked the boy's group why they were here. The second officer aims at Stevenm and then deflects her hand to aim at Maro.

"Vi ĉiuj, kialo ĉeesti kun vi?"

"(You people, reason to be here?)"

Suna down from the saddle when he hears the question from the guard. Being on the ground, she detaches herself from the backpack and leaves it on the ground while bending down to open it and take something from it. In a matter of seconds, Suna takes a letter, leaving the backpack on the ground. She approaches one of the guards, extends her arm to her, and hands her the letter. The guard takes the object and opens it, pulling out a piece of what appears to be paper. The guard remains silent as she analyzes the letter. When he has finished, she gives the group an unbelieving look, especially the boy next to the female officers. The guard gives them a few words before retiring:

"Do vi estas brilianto. Lasu min adiaŭi mian superulon, kiam donas al mi la rezolucion."

" (So you're a diamond. Let me take my leave as my superior gives me the resolution.)"

The guard withdraws while shaking her free hand, indicating to her partner to stay with the group. The second guard nods and stays in position. Maro gets out of the mount and warns Steven that it will no longer be necessary to ride the creatures, the boy nods and gets out of the saddle anyway.  
Suna goes to where the rider who served them is and gives her something, she can't see what she gave her, although it is not necessary to be so clever to sense that they use money or some equivalent system.

"Thank you. You can go now" She says goodbye to her by rubbing his index and middle fingers together.

"Samaj"

"Same" The rider responds and imitates Suna's gesture. She makes a whistle, which is heard by her mounts, who begin to follow her.

The rider leaves the group, getting lost in the distance. The sky was no longer so blue, as it began to show yellowish shades, it was already starting to be late. Steven asks Maro what the guard had said before she left. Maro replies that he was referring to him, mentioning that the letter perhaps said something about the audience, which would explain why she stepped back inside the palace. Steven decide to ask something to Maro.

"Do they understand us?" He mentions us with discomfort.

"What do you mean?" Maro asks, running her hand through her hair.

"Do they understand what we're saying. I don't. I don't need to tell you that I don't understand the language you speak."

Maro understands what the boy is talking about and answers:

"No. Although there are "double speakers" in every corner of this place, at least for the guards who are with us, they don't need to know any other." Maro says.

Maro's response is half comforting, as there must be other people, besides Maro and Suna, who can understand him. It will be very difficult to find some privacy.  
The guard that meets them makes her mount turn around and starts to move forward, not without first telling them to follow him. The group follows him until they reach the palace gates, they walk without hurry, although the nerves from before returned, feeling a little embarrassed by the stress.  
The guard that had retired leaves by the palace door, going down the steps in a hurry. As they reached the floor, he looked back at the boy's group. He gives them the "go-ahead" to enter, not without first giving them some recommendations.

The guard started talking. The language barrier was very obvious, so Maro began to translate what she was trying to say to him. The guard is silent when interrupted by Maro, she replies that her protégé does not speak the language. The guard apologizes for the action and continues where he left off. Maro assents and continues to translate.

"Good. I have been informed that you do indeed have an audience with the regent of Nacrea. You may enter, though, I'm going to ask certain things." Maro shut up and keep talking. "First, keep your class. While our regent is flexible on issues of etiquette, the fact that a diamond is among you requires both the diamond and his companions to follow a code of conduct."

Maro clears her troat and continues.

"Second, if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask the dames who are walking around the grounds. they are under the regent's orders and on the occasion of your audience, they will be at your service as well. The dames of the palace can be identified by the use of ribbons and emblems in dark red, like my uniform. The dames who wear purple and black emblems are the high ranks of the palace, if you need to know something specific, they are more than ready to clear up any doubts."

"Third and last... Well, there's not much to say anymore unless you keep your etiquette, any offence to the dames or the regent will not be ignored and may end not very well." Maro mentions that section very clearly.

The guard finished talking and turned in the opposite direction. She put her hands on the doors of the place, pushing them. When she opened, she left the inside of the room exposed, as it was under the stairs they could only see the upper half of the interior and the ceiling. She went down the stairs while indicating that they should enter.  
Stevens's group begins to climb the stairs until they reach the entrance of the palace. He stopped in his tracks, as if waiting for some sign, Suna understood and headed for him.

"I would also be frightened if I have to deal with the regent of an important country like this one" Suna rests a hand on the boy's shoulder "I trust you, I know you will do well. Besides, you will not deal with her "big sis" " Suna laughs mockingly. "This is a breeze."

Suna releases his shoulder and adopts a more rigid position, the words of his guard took effect on him, the fear began to diminish, making present an aura of confidence. The boy inhales and lets the air out.

"Let's go."

The boy and his guards enter the palace. They passed the door and came to a lounge, at the bottom, there was a glass door surrounded by windows, they advanced towards the door and opened it. The door led them to a glass corridor, in which one could see two gardens filled with flowers of various colours and shapes, as well as the other windows in the corridors of the building. In front of them stood the "real" front of the palace, connected to the translucent corridor in which they advanced.

When they arrived at the palace hall, they could see a pair of twin stairs leading to a balcony that rises above their heads. The group was greeted by two dames from the staff, both of whom shared the same appearance: Hair pulled back to the side, covering the ears, wearing a very small ponytail, resembling a wide brush. A cape that covers them until under the birth of the hands, the cape presents two openings to the front to allow the movement. Their necks are adorned with bows. The girl on the left is wearing a very dull red bow. The second, who is on the right, wears a very bright red bow with a ribbon that cuts her in half, the ribbon midline seems to be a neon violet.

The dame on the right introduces herself to the boy and his group.

"Greetings, guests," Says the dame in a solemn tone. "My name is "Sindonanimo". My companion's name is "Rozamo" "

The second dame bows to the group as she is introduced. The lady with the red ribbon asks the group what they want to do. This is strange to the trio, as it is strange that they are treated with a lot of confidence, despite being literally strangers for Nacrea. Naturally, Steven asks why they are so confident, even though he felt he already knew the answer:

"Excuse me, miss?" Asks with a little bit of reserve.

"Which one of us?" Said the two dames in unison.

Steven restates his question.

"Who is the higher rank of the two?"

"Sindonanimo." Said Rozamo with certainty.

"Thank you, Rozy." Steven says kindly

The boy's expression makes Rozamo's face turn to cyan, which makes Suna whisper a few words to him.

"Fuck, you're breathtaking"

Steven struggles to maintain his serious expression despite Suna's compliment, closes his eyes and breathes. As he lets go of the air, he opens his eyes and turns to the dame in the red ribbon.

  
"Miss Sindonanimo?"

"What do you want, honorability?" Ask her seriously.

"Well, may I call you simply Sindo?"

The dame nods to the question. "Sure, honorability."

"Thanks," he answer. "Miss Sindo, I find it a little strange that you give us the freedom to move around the palace, despite the fact that I am still a stranger to your regent. Don't take me wrong, but I want to know why."

Sindo nods and answers. "Honorability, my lady does not think it is a risk if you allow you and you companions to walk freely, the reason being that you are a diamond."

"That's the problem" Steven mentions "I don't think it's a good idea to have someone like me hanging around the halls of this place."

Sindo can't help but let out a smile with an air of smugness. Sindo's second dame just keeps watching everything.

"I'm not worried. My lady senses that you would not be able to harm her. Even if she gave you the opportunity to attack her, you won't do anything."

The dame's response leaves him slightly confused and scared.

"Well... -You're not wrong in thinking that."

"So? "

"Nothing. I'm fine, thanks."

The boy is silent again after talking to Sindo. The dame notices Steven's silence, as well as the expressions of his companions, which could be translated as "do something". Sindo decides to take over, asking what he wants to do.

"Honorability, I do not want to sound insistent, but I ask you again, what do you wish to do?"

"I want to talk to your "leader" Responds dryly

Sindo closes her eyes and nods again.

"As you like. Come with me."

Sindo turns around as her partner does too, both begin to climb the stairs to the balcony. The action of the dames tells them to follow them, the group comes back and follows them. As they climb, no one makes a pretense of asking anything, as if they were saving their words for something more important, and technically they were right to stay that way. Steven's group arrives at the balcony with the two dames, Rozamo opens the door to the second floor, Sindo enters first, Rozamo later. 

The trio walk at their own speed, although without leaving the two dames, they walk towards the left corridor and continue straight on, the boy and his team the same, the girls of the layers turn right and continue straight on the corridor. The windows had disappeared in this part of the building, being replaced by doors. They're already near the regent. The dame's walk is completed and they stop at one of the doors.

"We've arrived" said Sindo in a sober tone

The boy is in front of the door. His hand is shaking a little, but he stops. 

"Thank you, Miss" Respond.

This is the moment, the moment to meet the "diamantido" of Nacrea, the highest authority of the country. 

Abandon all hope, the who enter here...or maybe not


	15. Audience(Part II)

The door was the only thing that separated him from the ruler, he stayed in his place wondering if he should enter or turn around. Something within him is forcing him to move on, after the tumultuous events he has had to go through. Having an audience with a noblegem from an unknown planet is the least of his worries.

Nerves are playing tricks on him, and this did not pass up his guards, who are keeping an eye on him. Steven turns back, finding the duo sitting on the window ledge, glancing back.  
The orange girl finds herself burning one of her legs as she rests her chin on the other. Suna winks at her protégé and returns to except for the scene. The boy nods at the girl's gesture and looks back at the door.

Knowing he can still count on them, he puts his hand on the doorknob and takes it with some force, turning it. The boy pushes the door little by little, revealing the interior of the room, watching it carefully. He enters with short steps, turning from side to side.  
The interior counted for nothing in particular: a desk in the middle of the office and chairs in front of him, two in front of him and one with his back to him. The shelves and bookcases are full, some showing various objects, nothing of interest to him.

Paying no attention to the strange arrangement of the chairs, the boy moved forward, pushing one of the chairs backwards and settling into it. He usually finds silence comfortable, as it is the sign of having a moment for himself, but in this case it causes him discomfort. Maybe the fact that he ended up in a star system so similar to his, and yet so different, doesn't make him comfortable, it takes everything away from and leaves it in a very predictable situation. When you are taken out of your comfort zone, it is natural to feel that way.   
The silence is interrupted by a faint but audible humming, as he searches for the source of the sound, finds that it is literally in front of him. Although you don't feel afraid, he still is tormented by what happened before he arrived, not to mention the erratic attitudes of some people he has just met. The chair behind the desk begins to show quiet movements, without any hurry.

That person behind the chair stood in front of him, leaving a very strange impression: The gem in front of him was slender, with a rounded face and greyish skin, just like Svaregan. But there was something that didn't quite fit the mental image he had made of that graphite's sister: her prominent, pointed nose.  
.  
.  
.  
She is a Pearl.

Now the poor boy is certainly faced with more questions than answers. The girl manages to sigh with boredom as she opens the conversation:

"I'll take your expression as coming from by the cause of my formerly servile nature."

Steven understood the girl's words very clearly, making her understand that he didn't take her reaction very well. This forces him to remedy the misunderstanding however he can:

"Sorry, my bad." he says as he rubs his face. "I didn't mean to make you feel bad."

The girl maintains her inexpressive posture, watching him. He felt her gaze fall upon him. Like Svar, he could feel her judging him in silence, the girl closing her eyes for a moment and opening them again.

"My apologies, kid." Said the pearl seriously. "I'm sorry for misunderstanding everything. I understand that you come from a certain nation, so I understood that you found my presence uncomfortable." She gets up from her chair and puts her hand on the table. "Anyway, do you need anything?" She finishes abruptly, asking if there was anything she could do.

Steven is silent, thinking what to say.

"I apologize if I'm being a little abrupt... But you know graphite?"

The pearl answes with a blank expresion.

"You talk about Svaregan or Sinabero?"

"Svar" He reply.

The pearl smile, answering the question.

"Svaregan, Svaregan." She says as she walks through her office. "One of Nitero's important people, besides me, of course. A distinguished girl with an impeccable military career, I can't say more about them than I do about the good things."

The gem's still talking:

"I shouldn't say this, but I'd like "Sina" to be more like her elder sister and less like her..."

The girl's words attract the attention of the young boy, who cannot help but know the reason for her words.

"Why?" he ask.

"Why? Easy. I will assume that you already know that Sinabe, by her nature, is the Princess of Nacrea. Am I wrong?"

"Go on."

"Perfect." The pearl continues "Sinabero should be like her sister, but this is not the case. She's a little... how should I put it? More naive."

"Naive?"

"Naive, clueless, helpless and she likes to play with everyone. Thats Sinabero for you"

"Don't get me wrong." Steven says "But why are you telling me this?"

"Well," Pearl yawn "there are many reasons. Because I needed to tell someone and because telling you would make you understand why I'm attending to you and not her."

"I understand. Although Sinaberro is the princess of nacres, not being "able" to carry out such a task, that responsibility falls on you. You rule this place, in addition to taking care of her."

"Right."

Pearl responds more calmly. Even though they don't know each other at all, she is treating him with great confidence. Although there's something that doesn't seem right to him.

"Why isn't Svaregan in charge of Nacrea, if she's able to carry out that duty? "

Steven's question makes her sigh again with exhaustion. This gesture catches his attention, and he waits for an answer.

"It is complicated to explain, the only thing I can say is that a series of events relegated her to a less important plane."

she stopped talking, letting silence return to the room. She starts to walk towards the desk, but without taking a seat, just leaning her hands on the table; She observes the boy again, although she hadn't paid much attention to his image, this time she found something that caught the pearl's attention: A dark spot, not very big, which is on the bottom of Steven's jacket. 

The gem keeps her eyes fixed on the stain and questions the boy about it.

"Steven," she said, paying close attention, "I am very curious, but I want to know the origin of that stain on your clothes."

The boy didn't look down. He began to feel a little dizzy, that memory of his very possible death crossed his mind like the light that illuminates a dark room. He leaned back on his chair, taking the armrests with some strength, breathing with some difficulty.  
The gem was surprised at the sudden change the boy was experiencing. Did he say something he shouldn't have? It doesn't matter much anymore, the important thing for her in those moments is to reassure him.

"(Fek, mi devas fario ion nun)"

She approaches him and takes his shoulders, leaving one hand free while she caress the boy's face.

"Calm down, please," said the genuinely concerned girl, while caressing his cheek.

He began to calm down while the girl continued to comfort him. Feeling better, he thanks the girl for the gesture, receiving a positive response from her. The girl apologizes, arguing that perhaps she said something she shouldn't have, he tells her that there is nothing to apologize for.

"Thanks" Steven mentions it more calmly. 

"No need to thank me. It's my job" Says Pearl while she goes to her seat.

"Before I forget, can I know your name? " He ask

She stops and turns around. She adopts a more rigid posture, while putting her hands together at her belly.

"My name is Mutilo Perlo Malbrilianto, Lady of Nacrea... But you can call me Mutilo."

"Oh..."

"I know, it's a long name if you count the title I hold." Mutilo extends her arms out to his sides while yawns "... You don't need to tell me who you are, Svar has already said everything. You're a diamond from Homeworld. Am I wrong?"

"Uh, yeah." Said the boy with discomfort

"Is something wrong?"

"Nothing."

Mutilo closes her eyes, praying that things wouldn't get out of control, after the moment of stress, opens up her eyes and turns to look at the shelf, addressing it.

Without facing Steven, she speaks again.

"I understand your condition, kid. Belonging to a ruling family is something that cannot be taken too lightly, and I think I am the first to understand it. I understand that you don't feel comfortable in this place, but, since we are here, we can take some time to get to know each other better. At the end of the day, that's my job: winning wars without using any weapons."

Mutilo turns around to show her face.

"Svar told me you're an organic being, so I have to be more careful with my ways. Besides, you look very tired..."

" Let me do something for you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for my silence. I don't mean to excuse myself, but I had to attend to personal matters.


	16. Royal treatment

Mutilo laught briefly, only to return to her desk. Sitting, she turned in on herself, facing the shelf, temporarily disregarding her host. In place, she takes a geometrically constructed object, with triangular faces and a hexagonal shape.

I take it with some pressure, pricking one of the faces using her thumb, making the object radiate a dim light. From it emanated a feminine voice, declaiming in such an unknown language.

A female voice emanated from the object, speaking that unknown language.

"Salutojn, sinjorino! Li bezonas ion?"  
(Greetings, Ma'am! Do you need anything?)

Mutilo replied to the voice:

"Salutojn. Nu, estu mallonga: mi bezonas du tajlorojn, tri helpantojn kaj iun, kiu komprenas organikan dieton. La tipa."  
(Greetings. Well, I'll be concise: I need two tailors, three assistants and someone who understands organic nutrition. The usual.)

It ends by turning off the object.

"In a few moments my assistants should arrive." Mutilo gets up from her seat, approaching the shelf. "As they arrive, wouldn't you like to tell me about yourself, Steven?" Mutilo takes a book from the shelf and goes back to her place. "There are some things that are not clear to me, but, you can clear them up if you like." Mutilo stop talking and look at the boy carefully.

Steven takes a breath and responds to the girl's request.

"I don't want to talk about it now."

Mutilo closes her eyes, nodding.

"I understand. I won't pressure you, although I should mention that if you want to talk or need something special, you can let me or my assistants know. We'll be at your disposal."

The dry sound of a door being slammed in rhythm caught the attention of the individuals. Mutilo gets up, leaving the free one on the desk.

"Wow, they're really fast."

Mutilo approaches the boy and starts asking him if he wants to do something.

"Now that I see him better, there's something we can do," Mutilo approaches him as she puts her hand on his shoulder.

"And that something is referred to with your image" As she says that, Mutila takes a sheet of Steven's jacket with her fingers.

He looks at Mutilo somewhat strangely.

"What's your idea?"

"Oh, that's easy. I don't think your clothes will fit anymore. Besides, you have to fit in with the "Nacreous ways" and that means fixing your image. Don't worry, kid. I got you covered." Mutilo is laughing because of that statement.

The boy can't help but smile at Mutilo's attitude. Her attitude is the same as her assistant's or literally any other, although she feels that the concern for him is more because she was ordered to take care of him than because of her initiative. He decided to stop thinking about it and to continue with what Mutilo has prepared for him.

The sound of the door being knocked again draws the attention of both of us.

"I know."

Mutilo detaches herself from the young man and goes to the door in a hurry, when she arrives she takes the knob and turns it, pulling as she begins to walk backwards. When the door opens completely, a figure in dark clothing and very limited colored ornaments can be seen on the other side of the threshold. The girl gestures with her arm, asking him to come closer, calling the attention of Steven, who gets up from his seat and walks in the direction of Mutilo. Being closer, he could observe better the dames who are with him now: They shared the same style of uniform and hairstyle, but unlike the ladies who received him and his caretakers, they wear smocks with the respective color of their rank, covering their dresses.

Mutilo introduces her " assistants " to the Steven's group, repeating almost the same thing they had told him when they arrived at the palace.

"Kid, these are my assistants." Mutilo arranges her posture again as he flaps his hands in the direction of the dames "They are at your disposal, if you need something you can ask for it, if you need something more specific you can talk to the dames in purple and green-yellow dresses" Mutilo concludes, clasping her hands in her lap, advancing towards them, addressing the one who was the leader of the group.

The leader addresses Mutilo using the language, although the tone of her voice leaves no doubt that she is uncomfortable.

"Mia sinjorino. Pri la dietisto."  
(My lady. About the dietician...)

Mutilo shows no astonishment or anything similar, merely answering.

"Kio estas la problemo kun gi?"  
(What's the matter with her?)

"Mia sinjorino. Nia korpo en havas specialiston pri organikaj aspektoj, ec ne veteristo."  
(My lady. Our corps has no specialist in organic aspects... not even a veterinarian)

A short, loud sigh escapes Mutilo as she closes her eyes, then passes her hand over them and covers them. The leader understands that she is not happy with her decision, so she asks Mutilo if she can use someone.

"Mi tre bedaŭras pro mia nekompetenteco. Sed la sola homo, kiu povus helpi, estas je la servo de nia diamantido ... "  
(I'm sorry for my incompetence. But, the only person who could be of help is in the service of our princess...)

Mutilo lowers her hands when she hears what the leader said, she looks at her seriously and asks consequently.

"Mielo, Avelon au Osto?"

"Avelon."

Mutilo moves her hands and goes back to her assistant, still upset.

"Bone, nun, vi havas mian permeson venigi ŝin ĉi tien. "  
(Well, now you have my permission to bring her here. )

The assistant nods and walks out of the presence of the annoyed pearl, getting lost in the halls of the complex. The boy steals a brief glimpse of the situation, missing it. A calmer version of her appears, indicating to the rest of the assistants their tasks, among which, is to make him take a bath...

It is not as if it were something from the other world, but within it, the feeling of jubilation seizes him very strongly. After the sea of tragedy he had to go through to this place, being offered an interplanetary spa day(courtesy of the regent) sounds much better than it could have happened today. He couldn't let go of a smile, which he didn't overlook from the busy girl, who gave him one too in response. With no more words to say, Mutilo flaps her hand, sending the attendees on their way.

Steven starts to walk just like the assistants, keeping his hands in his pockets. On the other hand, Maro and Suna follows him. Apparently, their mission is not over yet.

The windows of the complex look out onto the " square " inside, so outside you can only see a wall with windows like those in their part of the building and a small patch of grass at the bottom. The internal construction is something I had not noticed until now, I could describe it as "loaded" as opposed to the angular and sterile style of the previous kingdom. The polished columns in curved patterns, with details that I would say are "floral", the vault above his head is embellished by intricate geometric patterns, colored in cream and gold, always highlighting a diamond colored in black, surrounded by these complex designs.

Well, at the end of the day she is in the queen's domains, the strange thing would be not to see some symbols that remind him where he put his feet. Waking up from her sleep in vigil, he noticed that they had arrived at the front of an ivory-colored door. The door was opened by one of the assistants, who waited for him to enter, the boy advanced and entered.

The room was a bathroom. Mutilo had already made it clear that he had to change his image... besides, his clothes are not in very good condition. Like the rest of the interiors, the bathroom stands out for its excess in details, evoking a marine scene, something very fitting for a pearl. He turned to see the group of assistants, who stayed in their places, waiting for some order from him, without losing sight of him, which was beginning to make him a little uncomfortable.

Steven takes the voice and addresses them.

"Would you be so kind as to turn around?"

Nothing. The assistants stood there, one of them answering him with hesitation.

"Pardonu-mi?" quickly said one of the assistants.

Yes... he remembered that they don't speak his language. The boy calls his group, with Suna appearing quickly.

"Did you say, diamond. Anything I can do?"

"Can you tell them to turn around? I'm not the kind of person who feels comfortable in public."

Suna smiled, letting out a victory snort.

"Hmmp. I see" Suna covers her mouth to cough, ready to talk "Knabinoj, estas pli bone se vi turniĝos kaj donas al mia princo iom da ĉambro."  
(Girls, it's better if you turn around and give my prince some space.)

The assistants nodded and turned around. Suna did not leave his position, which was very obvious to him.

"Could you turn around too?"

"Why? We've known each other for about..." Suna takes something from her pocket and watches it. "Four hours. I think we already have a link."

Before the boy could answer, a voice in the background got into the conversation.

"IF YOU DON'T GET OUT OF THERE, I'M GOING TO TURN YOU INTO A CHALK"

"I got it, Maro. You don't have to be so hostile."

Suna retired, forced by her partner to leave. With no one looking, he proceeded to undress, removing the clothes from his body, although he did not remove his underwear. The boy put the stained clothes aside and went into the tub. As he put his feet in, the warm sensation of the water calmed him down, as if from a reflection outside, he felt the need to sink into the liquid, to let it embrace him and take away his anguish and doubts.

He resisted a little, more out of shame, but in the end he stripped himself of everything and returned to his primary state.

The water covered every part of his being and the warmth embraced him with its cozy spirit. He sank deeper until he left part of his face in the bathtub as his eyes began to close, but the call from the audience caught his attention again.

He couldn't understand them, so he had to come back from his group to get around that bridge. This time, Maro took the call and went in.

"Do you need anything, Regent?"

"I don't want to bother you-- -He says uncomfortable--But I need you to tell me what they're saying."

Maro raised an eyebrow and answered.

"You're not asking me something difficult..."

Maro approaches one of Mutilo's assistants and talks to her. When he's finished, Maro talks to Steven again.

"Nothing interesting. She' s asking if you want to use any special scent."

"Scent? Like lavender."

"What's lavender"

Who would have thought it, Maro doesn't know about terrestrial plants. Why isn't he surprised? Steven then asks about the properties of the scans, since even he doesn't know how the plants in this place were named.

"Maro, what plant has an essence that feels cold to the touch, but doesn't make you feel uncomfortable?"

Maro crossed her arms and stopped to think about the question, having found an answer.

"The “Nokvent’flo” of Flavlu"

"Fla what? its a country"

"Yes, and it's south of Niter."

When she finishes answering, Maro starts walking towards the exit.

"I don't think a bathroom is the best place to give a geography lesson, so we'll leave this here."

Before leaving, she grabs one of the assistants by the shoulder and whispers something to her. The boy couldn't quite make it out because of the distance.

"Uzu la nokvent’flo esencon."


End file.
